PC Party, Liberals both promise to upload Ottawa LRT if they win Ontario election

Both the PCs and the Liberals have promised to upload Ottawa's light rail transit system, a move that could save the city millions. CTV's Austin Lee reports.

The Ontario government will upload responsibility of Ottawa’s light-rail transit network to the province, the Progressive Conservative Party and Liberal Party are promising.

Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford made his first visit of the Ontario election campaign Tuesday morning, announcing the PC Party would “build on the new deal” between Ottawa and Ontario if re-elected on Feb. 27.

“A re-elected PC government would upload the Ottawa LRT, subject to due diligence, and integrate its operations under Metrolinx,” the PC Party said.

“This integration would create new opportunities to reduce costs and improve services through greater economies of scale and expertise in managing large projects, particularly as the LRT project completes Stage 2 and begins Stage 3 expansion.”

Ford said Ontario uploading the LRT to Metrolinx would save the city $4 billion over 30 years, which would “free up significant funds and capital” for the city to “invest in other priorities.”

“We’re going to take the burden off of Ottawa. Their number one anchor around their neck is the cost of this LRT,” Ford said. “We all saw what happened on Phase 1; we’re correcting that, all of us. Phase 2, it’s going to be much better, and Phase 3 will be great.”

The PC Party didn’t provide any details about what Ontario taking over responsibility of the O-Train would look like, but officials said, “ideally” OC Transpo would still operate the line.

“We keep that Ottawa element and also continue to build upon on that with our expertise at Metrolinx,” PC candidate Prabmeet Sarkaria said.

“Ultimately, take that burden off the city with respect to the costs they are seeing with it. It’s a win-win for everybody; we’re bringing in our expertise.”

The new Ottawa-Ontario deal announced last March included the eventual uploading of Highway 174 to the province and funding for a new interchange at Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road and up to $80 million for the Kanata North Transitway.

Shortly before Ford’s announcement, the Ontario Liberal Party pledged to upload the LRT’s operations if elected.

“Bonnie Crombie and Ontario’s Liberals will deliver more for the people in Ottawa,” the Liberals said in a statement. “As Premier, Team Bonnie will upload the Ottawa LRT to ensure reliable, affordable transit for the city of Ottawa.”

The Ontario Liberals say their plan, unlike that of the PC Party, does not include Metrolinx.

“What we don’t want to do is operationalize LRT out of downtown Toronto. When the Minister of Transportation and the Premier are in Ottawa saying they want to fold LRT into Metrolinx, that sends shivers up my spine,” said Ontario Liberal candidate for Orléans, Stephen Blais.

“Metrolinx has failed to deliver every single light rail project in Toronto. One of them, Eglinton Crosstown, has been under construction for ten years. We don’t want decisions about LRT being made from class A office space overlooking Lake Ontario in downtown Toronto. We want those decisions being made here in Ottawa.”

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Transit Commission Chair Glen Gower and Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney attended Ford’s campaign announcement.

The campaign promise comes six months after Sutcliffe launched his “Fairness for Ottawa” campaign, calling on the upper levels of government to provide $140 million a year over three years to address a gap in transit funding.

Sutcliffe calls the promise a “big win” for Ottawa.

“I’ve made the case that Ottawa deserves to be treated like other Ontario cities such as Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, and Brampton. I’m very glad that Premier Ford agrees,” Sutcliffe said.

“Today, the Premier announced that if he forms a new government, he will upload Ottawa’s light-rail system to the Province. This will align Ottawa with other Ontario cities and have an enormous impact on our city’s financial position, while allowing OC Transpo to focus on improving our bus and rail service for residents.”

Last week, the federal government announced Ottawa would receive $180 million over 10 years to improve and maintain its buses and trains.

The 2025 City of Ottawa budget included an eight per cent hike in the transit levy and an average five per cent increase in transit fares in 2025 to help cover the funding shortfalls.

In a memo to Council, City Manager Wendy Stephanson said the city has not entered into any formal negotiations with the province and it would be “premature” to speculate on details of a possible deal.

“Should this announcement be implemented, it could align Ottawa’s transit delivery model with other major Ontario cities,” Stephanson said, adding an update will be provided to Council next week.

“As the Province has implemented with other municipalities, local transit entities continue to provide service locally while maintenance and oversight are under provincial jurisdiction. Maintaining local transit delivery ensures that services align with community ridership needs.”

Stephanson adds, “closing transit’s financial gap is a key focus of the Fairness for Ottawa campaign.”

OC Transpo opened the new north-south Line 2 and Line 4 in January, and the eastern extension of the Confederation Line, between Blair Station and Trim Station, is scheduled to open later this year. The western extension of Line 1 from Tunney’s Pasture to Baseline Station and Moodie Drive is scheduled to open in 2027.

Metrolinx operates GO Transit, UP Express and Presto, and is overseeing expansion of the Greater Toronto Area’s subway network with the Younge North Subway, Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and the Ontario Line.

Liberals promise to extend LRT to Kanata, Barrhaven

The Liberal Party said Tuesday in addition to uploading the LRT, a Liberal government would commit to Stage 3, extending light rail service to Kanata and Barrhaven.

Stage 3 of Ottawa’s LRT project would extend light rail from Baseline Station to Barrhaven Town Centre at an estimated price tag of $3.52 billion, while it will cost $1.8 billion to extend LRT from Moodie Drive to Kanata. To date, the City of Ottawa has yet to secure any funding for Stage 3.

Crombie also pledged to upload Highway 174 and build a dedicated bus/HOV lane to Rockland.

Ford previously promised to upload Highway 174 as part of the $543 million Ontario-Ottawa deal announced last year. The road stretching from Highway 417 to Canaan Road was downloaded to the city in 1997.

“The people of Ottawa deserve a government that shows up for them,” Crombie said in a news release. “My team has always had Ottawa’s back. We know you need more than you’re getting from Doug Ford, and Ontario’s Liberals are committed to working with Ottawa on a transportation system that does more for you.”

NDP offers cost-sharing plan

The province’s New Democrats are promising a different plan for transit in Ottawa.

“The NDP transit plan, in a nutshell, is to provide 50/50 cost-sharing on operational dollars for municipalities for transit,” said Ontario NDP candidate in Ottawa Centre, Catherine McKenney.

When asked about the timing of Ford’s campaign promise, McKenney questioned his motivations.

“There was a Private Members’ Bill brought to Queen’s Park from the NDP, asking for operational funding for cities and it was voted against by every single conservative MPP,” they said.

“So, it is a bit rich that today, in the middle of the campaign, they’re thinking about doing it, but I don’t think they were very firm. They’re going to look into whether it was feasible or not, but again, replacing one [public-private partnership] with another, both of them with poor reputations for delivering service on time, doesn’t fill me with any confidence.”

--With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Austin Lee