‘It’s time to come together’: Local leaders from across Canada call for new transit funding model

Municipal leaders and community stakeholders gather for the "Transit for Tomorrow Summit" at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Ottawa (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)

Mayors and transit board chairs from seven of Canada’s largest cities gathered in Ottawa Monday, calling on the federal government to address what they are calling a ‘funding crisis’ facing the country’s largest transit agencies.

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During the "Transit for Tomorrow Summit" in the capital, the group signed a joint declaration titled "A New Solution is Needed to Sustain Essential Public Transit Services."

"Transit is the most powerful method of tackling traffic congestion. It is the lifeblood of economic growth in our biggest cities. It is a solution to the rising cost of living. It helps us reduce carbon emissions," reads part of the joint declaration.

"But public transit systems across the country are in a financial crisis. If this historic challenge isn’t overcome, we risk a future that is costlier, more polluting, and where gridlock holds people and businesses back from their full potential."

Representatives from Ottawa, Toronto, Brampton, Calgary, Edmonton and Metro Vancouver have signed the joint declaration.

The group is calling on the federal government to:

• Accelerate the Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF) program as the first step towards a sustainable and predictable stream of funding for public transit systems.
• Commit to convening a forum with municipal and provincial counterparts to develop a new model for funding public transit that grows with the economy, population, and ridership, and is sustainable, predictable and sufficient to address both capital and operating needs.
• Support long-term transportation planning that aligns with and delivers on the economic, social, and environmental objectives of all orders of government by enshrining the Canada Public Transit Fund in legislation, similar to the Canadian Community Building Fund, to ensure its long-term predictability.

“Public transit systems across the country are in a financial crisis. If this historic challenge isn’t overcome, we risk a future that is costlier, more polluting, and where gridlock holds people and businesses back from their full potential. Canada’s cities are rapidly growing, and they need public transit to grow with them,” reads a portion of the joint declaration.

“To confront the housing crisis, Canada needs more housing supply, in particular near convenient and frequent public transit. But it makes no sense to force transit systems to cut service while trying to encourage transit-oriented development.”

Transit funding has been a hot topic in Ottawa this year, as the city faces a $25.6 million transit deficit for 2024, and a $120 million funding shortfall in 2025.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has warned increases to transit fares and property taxes are on the table to fill the funding gaps, but he too wants to see higher levels of government step up with financial assistance.

The main takeaway from Monday’s summit: Ottawa is not alone when it comes to transit challenges.

"I think a lot of people have heard Mayor Sutcliffe talk about Ottawa’s fight for transit fairness from the other levels of government, well, every other city in Canada is facing the same struggle," said Ottawa city councillor and transit commission chair Glen Gower.

"So, it’s time to come together, talk about solutions and to have a collective effort to make sure we can get funding from the other levels of government."

Gower added that Sutcliffe continues to have conversations with both federal and provincial counterparts, but there is no concrete plan in place to address the monetary constraints.

"We have our draft budget coming out on Nov. 18, so we will have some of the details there, but we have made some good progress in terms of some solutions to address the challenges that we are going to face next year," he said.

“I think having a collective voice is always important and we are really trying to emphasize the impact transit can have on housing, affordability, climate change and on the economy. There are so many benefits from transit so, we are making sure that message comes loud and clear to our federal counterparts."

Meetings for the 2025 draft budget are scheduled to run from Nov. 4 to Dec. 5, with final approval set for mid-December.