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Officials managing the federal government’s return-to-office plans are concerned about the ability of Ottawa’s troubled transit system to actually get public servants to their workplaces, an internal memo shows.
Canada’s top public servant, Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia, and Deputy Clerk Isabelle Mondou met with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on Feb. 19 to discuss the city’s readiness to support an increased on-site presence across the federal public service.
The meeting focused on how the city could help the effort succeed and addressed public transit, roads, parking and office space, said Tahera Mufti, the mayor’s director of communications.
In early February, the federal government announced the next step in back-to-office plans for executives and employees eligible for hybrid work.
Since May 4, executives have been required to work in the office five days a week. Other employees are generally expected to be on site four days a week as of July 6, though some departments have delayed that.
The federal memo, prepared for Sabia in advance of the February meeting, says Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) “proactively engaged” with the city because the reliability of OC Transpo, Ottawa’s bus and rail system, was one of the concerns most frequently cited by federal employees in the area.
The bus network is the primary source of frustration for commuters, consistently failing to meet its performance targets.- Memo obtained by The Canadian Press
PSPC and the city “are now meeting regularly to co-ordinate analysis and planning, including transit demand projections,” the memo says.
The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain a copy of the memo from the Privy Council Office. Significant portions, including suggested questions for federal officials to raise, were stripped from the memo before its release.
Some of the problems
“The bus network is the primary source of frustration for commuters, consistently failing to meet its performance targets,” says a section of the document devoted to the service standards of OC Transpo.
Ottawa’s public transit system, which connects across the Ottawa River to Gatineau, Que., has been struggling with reliability for most of 2026.
That has included mechanical problems with both buses and electric Line 1 trains that have led to reduced service, electric flashes breaking that line’s overhead wires and, most recently, a lack of staff to run trains on Lines 1 and 4 last weekend.
Some of those problems would have been just starting around the time the memo was being prepared. Others hadn’t happened yet.
Line 1 of what’s currently the three-line O-Train rail network has had problems since before it opened in 2019, leading to a public inquiry that lambasted mistakes made during its construction and testing and some significant shutdowns in the years since.
Users rated their satisfaction with the O-Train at about 3.29 out of five, while the bus network was pegged at just 2.91 out of five, the memo said.
New Ottawa transit general manager Rick Leary said last week — before the staffing shortage — that the service is working to have more reliable service and more happy riders.
WATCH | The key parts of Leary’s plan:
New OC Transpo GM has 10-point plan to improve transit service
Rick Leary has been general manager of OC Transpo since the end of March. CBC’s Arthur White-Crummey was at the announcement outlining Leary’s path forward.
Sutcliffe, who was elected mayor in October 2022 and has said he is running for re-election, said at a recent news conference the city wants to show people it is making progress on transit.
“What’s it going to take to be successful? We need to fix the trains. We need better leadership. We need a stronger workforce. We need more reliable buses,” Sutcliffe said.
“All of the pieces are starting to come together for that. We’re not all the way there yet. Nobody’s claiming that, but all of the pieces are starting to fall into place.”
Spokespeople for PSPC and the city said they continue to work closely to support the federal return-to-office plans.
Privy Council Office spokesman Pierre-Alain Bujold said the federal government appreciates the efforts of the Ottawa and Gatineau to improve the availability and reliability of transit.