Council imposing cap on number of employees at Ottawa City Hall

The sign outside City Hall in Ottawa (CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa city council wants to cap the size of the municipal public service, while it aims to keep the 2026 property tax hike at 3.75 per cent.

Council approved the directions for the 2026 City of Ottawa budget Wednesday morning, directing staff to draft the budget with a maximum 3.75 per cent hike in property taxes and a transit fare increase up to 7.5 per cent.

Council also voted 14 to 10 to support a motion from Coun. David Brown to cap the size of the municipal public service at 17,105 employees.

The motion exempts paramedics, firefighters, and Bylaw Services, and requests the exemptions on the cap be made for the Ottawa Police Service, OC Transpo, Ottawa Public Library, Ottawa Public Health and long-term care and childcare positions.

“Placing a cap on the total number of (full-time equivalent positions) will encourage more efficient workforce management, improved productivity, and prioritization of critical service delivery in contrast with the workforce reductions that are currently ongoing within the federal government,” Brown’s motion said.

“A total of 17,105 (full-time equivalent positions) is deemed an appropriate ceiling based on the most recent approved staffing levels.”

Staff say the proposed cap is close to the number of people who currently work at the city.

“The City of Ottawa currently has approximately 17,100 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, inclusive of the Office of the Auditor General, Ottawa Public Library, Ottawa Public Health and Ottawa Police Services,” said Pamela LeMaistre, Chief Human Resources, in a statement to CTV News Ottawa. “Over 90 per cent of those employees are delivering front-line services to residents and 3.4 per cent are in management level positions.”

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he believes the motion signals that the city is looking to find savings.

“I think it was important to send a message to the community that we’re doing everything we can at the City of Ottawa to keep our costs under control,” he told reporters after the council meeting.

“I think there’s flexibility that’s built into the motion that was passed by council today. There is still room to hire people where necessary, in particularly areas where we’re investing.”

Brown’s motion notes there are 598 positions identified as either a general manager, director, manager and program manager within the City of Ottawa.

“I want to make sure that as we go forward, residents have a clear understanding that although we’re asking for more, we’re also going to look internally to find some of these savings,” Brown told council.

Councillors Shawn Menard, Jeff Leiper, Sean Devine, Glen Gower, Theresa Kavanagh, Marty Carr, Jessica Bradley, Ariel Troster, Laine Johnson and Rawlson King voted against the hiring freeze.

“I worry about cherry-picking departments,” Kavanagh said.

2026 City of Ottawa budget directions

The 2026 City of Ottawa budget will be drafted with a maximum 3.75 per cent hike in property taxes, along with a transit fare increase up to 7.5 per cent next year.

Council voted 16-8 to approve the 2026 budget directions, kicking off the three-month debate on how Ottawa City Hall spends your tax dollars. Councilors Menard, Leiper, Devine, Kavanagh, Bradley, Troster, Johnson and King voted against the budget directions.

“It’s not easy work; budgets are tough. We are required to make very difficult decisions,” Mayor Mark Sutcliffe told council.

“We’ve all heard feedback from our residents; I have heard repeatedly and regularly from our residents that they want to see us do better, they want more reliable services, but they are struggling to make ends meet right now.”

The budget will be drafted with a 2.9 per cent hike in funding to support most city services, while the transit budget will be drafted with a proposed increase in the transit levy between 3 per cent and 15 per cent and a hike in transit fares between 2.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent.

A 3.75 per cent property tax hike would add $166 to the average property tax bill, and $353 dollars to the average commercial property tax bill.

The 2026 draft budget will be presented to city council on Nov. 12, and the final adoption vote will take place on Dec. 10.