Mother Nature buries Ottawa’s snow-clearing budget in first 3 months of the year

Crews remove snow from streets in Ottawa's Central Park neighbourhood on Friday. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

The City of Ottawa implemented a discretionary spending freeze and a hiring pause this spring, after Mother Nature buried the city’s snow-clearing budget during the winter.

A report for the finance and corporate services committee shows the city posted a $14 million deficit in the January to March period. Staff say the deficit was “mainly driven” by the above-average winter snowfall, resulting in a $24.9 million deficit in the winter operations budget.

“Financial mitigation measures, such as a discretionary spending freeze and a hiring pause, have helped reduce the deficit to $14 million,” staff said in the report for the June 3 committee meeting.

“Management remains committed to implementing these strategies throughout 2025, with a continued focus on maintaining service levels.”

The report shows the Road Services department posted a $24.9 million deficit due to higher expenditures for winter maintenance of roads and sidewalks. The city received 193 cm of snow between January and March.

In addition to the hiring pause and the discretionary spending freeze, the city says surpluses in several departments during the first quarter helped offset the deficit. Solid Waste Services posted a $3.7 million surplus, Emergency and Protective Services saw a $1.4 million surplus, and Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services ran a $962,00 surplus due to higher-than-anticipated revenues from arena rentals and registrations.

OC Transpo running in the red

OC Transpo continues to run in the red, due to lower-than-budgeted fare revenue.

Staff say OC Transpo posted a $1.7 million budget deficit in the first three months of the year.

“Revenues were $1.9 million below budget, mainly due to lower provincial funding resulting from lower Transit Payment Agreement expenditures, and lower-than budgeted fare revenue,” staff said.

“These shortfalls were partially mitigated by higher gas tax revenues.”

The report shows expenditures were $200,000 below budget, mainly due to lower compensation costs and O-Train Line 1 performance deductions.

Carbon Tax

City staff say the elimination of the federal carbon impact is expected to have a “positive impact” on the 2025 operating budget during the remaining nine months of the year.

As of April 1, the federal government removed the consumer carbon tax.

“The policy change is expected to reduce operating costs, particularly in fuel-intensive departments such as Transit Services, Public Works, and Emergency and Protective Services,” staff said.

City Treasurer Cyril Rogers told councillors earlier this spring that the city could save $10.5 million this spring through the removal of the federal carbon tax, including $7.2 million at OC Transpo.