Ottawa Police Service Board approves 2025 draft budget

The sign outside Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in winter. (CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa police will be asking city taxpayers for an extra $16 million next year to hire more officers and launch new programs in the nation's capital.

This means the average urban homeowner can expect to pay around $20 more next year to cover policing in Ottawa.

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The Ottawa Police Service Board approved the police service's 2025 draft budget Monday, ahead of the full budget vote on Dec. 11. The $388.7 million net spending plan is $16.3 million over what police received in 2024.

The increase includes the 2.9 per cent tax rate set by council and an expected 1.5 per cent in assessment growth next year, based on projected population increases.

The budget includes $20 million to maintain existing police services, plus an extra $8.1 to hire 22 more sworn officers and 28 new civilian positions. Money from the federal and provincial governments will help cover new services, including staff for the Parliamentary precinct, the new downtown mounted unit, and other programs such as the CORE project in the ByWard Market area.

The draft budget, which was first tabled in November, passed unanimously at Monday's Ottawa Police Service Board meeting.

"We do feel, obviously, that this budget, as we've mentioned in the past, does address our key issues, the key priorities of district policing, staff stabilization, and, of course, the ongoing negotiations out of the collective bargaining agreement," said Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs.

The police service's budget also includes $5.4 million for new police cars, up to $1.9 million for conducted energy weapons, such as Tasers, and $10.3 million for upgrades to police headquarters on Elgin Street.

Violent crime trending down in 2024

The budget report says there has been a 4.3 per cent increase in the crime rate in the last five years, with a two per cent increase in the number of Criminal Code offences in Ottawa as of Oct. 15, compared to the same time in 2023. There were approximately 48,000 Criminal Code incidents in Ottawa last year overall.

However, statistics included in the budget report also show a trend of decreasing crime in many areas this year. The overall rate of violent crime was down 6.6 per cent as of Oct. 15, 2024, compared to the same time last year. The number of shootings has also been trending downward compared to 2023.

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Hate and bias-motivated crimes were down slightly, as of mid-October, according to police statistics.

One difference in violent crime is the number of homicides. There were 15 homicides in Ottawa last year with 16 victims. So far this year, there have been 19 homicides with 24 victims. This includes the mass homicide on Berrigan Drive in March, in which six people were killed, and one non-culpable homicide after a teenager died at McNabb Park in April.

The number of thefts under $5,000 rose by 15 per cent, but auto thefts were down 30 per cent in 2024 compared to the same time in 2023, arsons were down 26 per cent, and break-and-enters were down seven per cent.

The budget report states that police officers in Ottawa are seeing increased workloads, and the police service is increasingly requiring its officers to work overtime. More than 190,000 hours of overtime were issued as of Sept. 30, 2024, the report says.

"The financial implications of this situation are significant, the personal impact on members is substantial, and the long-term reliance on overtime has resulted in a decline in service levels," the report says, noting that overall clearance rates had dropped to 28 per cent as of September, from 35 per cent in 2018.

"This decline is likely due to increased workloads and more complex calls. As a result, fewer victims of crime are seeing justice served within an acceptable timeframe."

The City of Ottawa's full 2025 budget will be voted on at city council on Dec. 11.