OC Transpo cutting workforce in effort to fill $50M budget gap

OC Transpo is reducing their administration and management workforce to help deal with a gap in their budget, they announced on Tuesday.

In total, 25 unionized and 10 management and administrative employees are being let go, wrote OC Transpo in a memo to city council.

“All directly affected individuals were informed today,” wrote OC Transpo’s general manager manage Renée Amilcar in the memo.

Last year, a dearth of riders left Ottawa’s transit service with a $50-million budget gap according to Amilcar in November.

The latest staff cuts are meant to help fill that gap.

Based on current projections, transit ridership isn’t expected to reach more than 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. An update to their long range financial plan estimates it could take up to 10 years before ridership fully recovers.

So far, OC Transpo has already retired older buses, froze discretionary benefits and deferred capital costs to help reduce costs in their 2024 budget.

The transit system is also planning to cut its bus service by 74,000 hours across the city this year. Amilcar doesn’t believe it will impact many customers, read a memo sent to council in November.

“This adjustment does not affect our frontline employees, namely bus and rail operators, as well as mechanics and apprentices,” read the memo. OC Transpo said they are still looking to hire more in the coming year.

OC Transpo announced on Monday that they recently hired more bus drivers, according to a post on social media.