From Lansdowne to the budget: Here's a look at what city council is debating this fall

A debate is brewing at city council over the 2026 budget, whether to keep taxes low or increase them to invest more in services that many say are falling behind. 

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has been adamant that property taxes should only increase by 3.75 per cent next year, a direction the city’s finance and corporate services committee approved. 

For the average homeowner, that would mean paying $237.30 more a year, including $166 more in property taxes, $25 for solid waste (garbage pickup), and $47.30 for water. 

“There are people who want to see us increase numbers by none or 10 per cent. There are also people who want to see tax increases of zero per cent or one percent,” Sutcliffe told reporters. “There are people who want to see us investing heavily; people who want to see us making cuts. We always have to strive to find a balance.”

But some city councillors feel this isn’t the right balance. One of the fiercest critics is Kitchissippi Ward Coun. Jeff Leiper, the chair of the Planning Committee, has also announced his intention to run for Mayor. 

“The tax target that at least the committee has approved is arbitrary, and it's difficult to discern without some options and analysis in front of us regarding what the right number is. I think residents have a feeling that services are declining, whether that is sidewalks and roads that are going unrepaired, whether that's slower pickup of garbage in parks, or slow response by bylaw to resident complaints. There is a general feeling that services have been declining for a decade or so,” Leiper told the Lookout. 

“Over the decade since I've been a councillor, we've been using [former Mayor] Jim Watson's approach to setting a tax target in advance of having a discussion about how much money we actually need. And it's a backwards process,” he added. 

Leiper was among three councillors on the 12-member finance and economic committee — the others being Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard and Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King — who voted against the budget directions.  

City staff have said they can make the budget work, but it will be challenging. Transit will again be the biggest hurdle, a déjà vu moment from last year when a $36 million hole was left to hopefully be filled by upper levels of government. That support didn’t entirely follow, and now a $47 million gap remains for this year. 

With uncertainty over how that can trickle into the next fiscal year, transit fares will be going up again. A single fare could increase by 30 cents to $4.30. A monthly pass that’s currently $130 could go up by about $10. City staff have also said they are looking for efficiencies. 

This news has aggravated some councillors who say the system is already running poorly and is hemorrhaging riders. The youth pass at the beginning of September was eliminated entirely, and 11 to 19-year-olds had to pay the same amount as an adult. 

“We just went through the April 27th review [New Ways to Bus]  that cut basic transit routes in my ward that have left families who don’t have vehicles on weekends unable to even leave their house,” River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington said at a recent meeting. “Single parent with kids, more than one example who can’t travel because their basic bus route is gone. And you’re telling me we have operational offences we can cut from the transit budget? I don’t understand.”

Orléans South-Navan Coun. Catherine Kitts said “transit is the monkey on our backs” and said it “feels like we're trying to solve a maze with no exit.“

There are other concerns, too. Alex Cullen, the former Bay Ward councillor who is also spouse to the current representative Theresa Kavanagh, said more funding is needed to keep up with the City’s aging amenities.

The General Burns Pool on Chesterton Drive was forced to close for most of the summer due to needed repairs, and the Belltown Dome near Britannia Beach has reached the end of its lifecycle with no plans to replace the lost ice rink space. 

“What is missing from these budget directions is any attempt to address the $10.2 billion funding gap (over 10 years) to maintain the City's aging infrastructure & facilities. Not addressing this now will cost the City more downstream,” Cullen told Mayor Sutcliffe over X. 

The budget directions still need to be approved by city council. The draft budget will then be tabled on Nov. 12 with final approval a month later on Dec. 10 

Here is a look at other projects the city council will be debating this fall. 

Lansdowne 2.0

Perhaps one of the biggest files city council will debate this fall is whether to build Lansdowne 2.0. The $419 million project — which in reality is expected to be much higher — would create a new 5,500-seat arena and new north-side stands. There is also a plan for two residential towers to be built next to the new north-side stands. 

If approved and shovels get in the ground soon, the events centre would be built first with a completion date in 2027. The north-side stands would come next and be completed in mid-2029, with the high-rise towers coming in 2034. 

That would mean the area off of Bank Street in the Glebe would be under construction for about a decade which has some people worried. There are also concerns over reduced seating in the sporting facilities, the fact that the new north-side stands would have no roof, and questions over what that could mean for the Ottawa Charge women’s hockey team, which has seen sold-out crowds in its current, bigger arena. 

But only four votes need to change in order for Lansdowne 2.0 to fail. That could happen — and one councillor has already confirmed they intend to vote differently. Isabelle Skalski, the newly elected representative for Osgoode Ward, said during the recent by-election that she was, and would vote against, the proposal. George Darouze, who was the councillor before her, previously voted in support. 

The Lookout has spoken with three other councillors who asked not to be named who noted they are planning to vote no this time. One noted that even though they were in support last time, it was only because they wanted to find out more information, and stated no compelling arguments in support have been raised. 

But Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is campaigning on Lansdowne 2.0 to go through to be a legacy project and has been adamant that all of Ottawa would benefit as a result. 

The Old Ottawa East Community Association has recently sent a letter to the mayor urging council to pivot and said a new Lansdowne 3.0 should be drafted instead. 

“Our concerns with the proposal include the financial implications, the proposed end product, significant unresolved transit and traffic issues, and other critical issues that should take priority for our City’s limited resources,” the association wrote. 

What would a Lansdowne 3.0 look like? The Old Ottawa East Community Association says it would be “a creative, sustainable, financially viable option for revitalizing the site that includes renovation rather than replacement of the existing facilities.”

Lansdowne 2.0 has also been opposed by the Glebe Community Association and area councillor Menard. 

More information, including clear timelines and updated construction costs for the proposed Lansdowne 2.0 will be shared this fall before the final vote sometime in October. 

Parks garbage policy

As part of the Solid Waste Master Plan, the City will be updating its parks garbage policy at the September meeting of the Environment and Climate Change Committee. Staff’s report is expected to include a formalisation of three-stream collection in City parks, better bin design to improve serviceability and cleanliness, and a general update on the three-item limit’s first year.

A new zoning By-law 

After years of public debate, an updated Zoning By-law will be before the Planning and Housing Committee at the end of December. Its aim is to have the by-law finally matches the City’s Official Plan as well as the various provincial changes enacted since 2022.

The work plan began in 2021 and has gone through various changes. The second draft was tabled in the first quarter of this year, with the final version arriving during the last quarter. 

“The Official Plan directs how the city will grow for the next 25 years and we’re trying to focus growth to locations where it’s going to make the most sense for the city — in a bunch of different ways, like around transit stations — to make complete, livable communities and a financially sustainable city,” said Carol Ruddy, the city’s manager of zoning and intensification, told the Ottawa Citizen. 

The document is over 300 pages and too technical to summarize quickly, but some highlights include: new mandatory on-site stormwater management systems for developments that increase runoffs, streamlining rules for secondary dwellings, and establishing a structured framework for neighbourhood zones ranging from N1-N6.

What most residents will notice the most is changes to housing. The new zoning bylaw could allow up to three-storey buildings in what is known as the “Bungalow Belt” — areas of the city where older, single-family homes are currently situated. This will particularly affect areas like Nepean or Gloucester. 

In 2020, city council declared a “housing emergency” and is looking for ways to rapidly build more units. Ottawa is expected to grow by upwards of 500,000 new residents over the next 20 years and has set the target of building over 151,000 new homes by 2031. But the City is well below its targets. Data in October 2024 showed it was less than half of the way of completing its target for the year of 12,583 new homes. 

Developers will benefit from the City eliminating parking requirements, which previously forced them to add a certain number of parking spaces with new-build construction. That was a source of friction for many suburban councillors who argued their wards benefit from parking. But staff noted developers can still include parking in their plans and would do so in order “to make them marketable.” 

Private Approach By-law

This item will be before Council after the updated Zoning By-law is voted on in January.

The Private Approach By-law regulates the construction, use and maintenance of private approaches in the City. What is a private approach? It’s the part of a vehicle access to private property that is on the City’s right of way — in other words the portion of a driveway that is on City property. 

The review is being done because it hasn’t been fully updated since it was created in 2003. The City says “provincial planning rules have recently changed to support more multi-unit housing and the upcoming zoning changes, if approved, will impact the parking and access options in many areas of the City.“

Speed limit policy 

If you’re a driver in Ottawa, chances are you have realized speed limits don’t always compare to other roads which are similar. As Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo pointed out in his recent newsletter, Fallowfield is 80 km/h, Woodroffe and Strandherd are 70 km/h, and Greenbank is 60 km/h, despite the same design on all four roads. 

A new policy to establish a consistent citywide practice will be before Council some time before the end of the year, but few details are known at this time.