City Budget 2026 Public Consultation Opportunities - all November!

As we close out the last quarter of 2025, public consultations for the City of Ottawa's 2026 budget are currently underway. The draft budget will be tabled at Council on Wednesday, November 12th, and there are still a number of ways you can get involved.

Following the Council meeting, residents can provide feedback on the draft budget by asking questions through the City’s Engage Ottawa webpage. Question submissions will open up for the public between November 12th and December 8th.

Another way to get involved is to attend the Councillor-led public consultation session for your ward. While several consultations took place earlier in October, a number are coming up in November:

• Monday, November 3rd: Ward 1 (Councillor Luloff). In-person from 7:30-9:30 pm. Maple Hall, 2552 Old Montreal Road.

• Monday, November 10th: Ward 4 (Councillor Curry) and Ward 23 (Councillor Hubley). In-person from 6:30-8:00pm. Tony Graham Recreation Complex, 100 Charlie Rogers Place.

• Monday, November 17th: Ward 13 (Councillor King). Virtual from 6:30-8:30 pm. Meeting link Passcode: 017131

• Tuesday, November 18th: Ward 12 (Councillor Plante). Virtual from 7:00-9:00 pm. Meeting link

• Tuesday, November 25th: Ward 10 (Councillor Bradley), Ward 16 (Councillor Brockington), Ward 17 (Councillor Menard), Ward 18 (Councillor Carr). In-person from 6:30-8:30 pm. Jim Durrell Recreation Centre, Ellwood Hall, 1265 Walkley Road.

• Tuesday, November 25th: Budget Information Session for Black and Racialized Communities. Open to all residents who identify with BIPOC communities. Hybrid from 6:00-8:00 pm: In-person at Heartwood House, 404 McArthur Avenue and via Zoom (Meeting link Passcode: 017131). Hosted by Councillor King

Council will approve the 2026 budget on December 10th. It will be posted to the budget webpage in Q2 2026.

Earlier this year on July 30th, CAFES, as part of the Peoples Official Plan Coalition (POP), submitted a letter to the City’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Cyril Rogers, regarding the 2026 budget trends and directions. In the letter, POP requested for the Finance and Corporate Services Department to provide Council and the public with better transparency on how municipal spending has evolved over the years. POP requested publicly available information on 10-year historical data on the key operating budget categories, sectoral balance visualizations, contextual reporting on declared emergencies and a 10-year backward and forward review on debt.

Still want to learn more? Join Strong Towns Ottawa, a member of POP, on Thursday, November 6th from 6:15 - 7:15pm at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 400 Sparks St. Ottawa, for their first monthly meeting. The meeting will feature a crash course on the 2026 City draft budget, what it means for the financial solvency of our city, and how to best get involved with the budget process, with a special highlight on delegation opportunities at upcoming city council and standing committee meetings. All experience levels are welcome and anyone from the public can join. Register here! You are also welcome to join the post-meeting hangout starting at 7:30pm at the 3 Brasseurs Pub on 240 Sparks Street.