Carleton University students are no strangers to high rental costs and unreliable transportation, and some local leaders say this year’s budget does not stand to help.
The budget passed Dec. 11, marking Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s fourth budget of his term, and the last before the municipal election later this year. A 3.75 per cent property tax hike, fare increases for OC Transpo and increases to the Ottawa police budget are headlining the spending plan.
How will the budget affect Carleton students?
“The number one and two issues that I hear about from students are affordable housing and public transit,” said Coun. Ariel Troster, who represents Somerset Ward. “I can’t really say that this budget does a whole lot for students, and I understand why they might be frustrated.”
Councillor Troster was one of four councillors who voted against the budget, saying she is skeptical about the budget’s benefits for students.
“I’m hearing from a lot of students that they don’t find the transit to be reliable to get them to school, which means they end up driving, and that can be very expensive,” she said.
OC Transpo is missing its own reliability targets, with the transit agency delivering 97.8 per cent of its planned trips over the past 12 months, 1.7 per cent below its target.
“I think until we fix this fundamental transit problem — and have it become the first choice because it’s reliable and it’s affordable, people are going to end up paying more,” Troster said.
OC Transpo’s operating budget will total $938 million in 2026, with transit funding increasing by more than 10 per cent even as council approved a 2.5 per cent fare hike.
Aidan Kallioinen*, the Carleton University Students’ Association’s vice-president (student issues), focused on the financial drivers of the budget for students.
“As the budget stands now, it looks like they’re standing on 2.5 per cent [increase], which is very good news for students in the sense that it keeps the U-Pass one of the most affordable transit programs in the city, if not the most affordable and the best deal,” he said.
Kallioinen is also concerned about what he called a lack of attention to affordable housing amid “gentrification in student neighbourhoods” and climbing rent prices.
“We’re not seeing a lot of talk on the city side towards what they’re going to do to address that when the neighbourhoods that students are forced to live in become some of the most unaffordable in the city,” he said.
Kallioinen added he thinks a city budget recommendation to develop more affordable housing near transit stops falls short for the university community.
“If you think about Carleton’s specific infrastructure, I mean, where is affordable housing going to go near Carleton station?”
“It doesn’t really address the fact that, directly adjacent, we have Old Ottawa South, which is one of the most unaffordable neighbourhoods in the city.”
Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr voted in support of the budget and pointed to the city’s broader economic situation.
“I think that the budget was balanced. I think that there were investments that were made in high-priority areas that needed to be made,” she said.
“Obviously, in a city as large as Ottawa, where investments have been neglected for many, many years, we’re playing a bit of a game of catch-up.”
When considering students, Carr said affordability is a concern she hears often, calling grocery prices “out of control.”
The new budget adds $476,000 toward food security initiatives, with a total investment of $5.5 million.
Transit needs to continue to be a focus of city spending going forward, Kallioinen reiterated.
With roughly three-quarters of Carleton undergraduate students relying on transit, he said, “it becomes as essential as having a roof over your head and food in your belly.”
*Aidan Kallioinen has previously contributed to the Charlatan
Featured image by Michael McBean/the Charlatan
