Rural Clean Water Renewal Approved - Comité de l’agriculture et des affaires rurales – le 2 avril 2026

The Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee met to review the Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program’s five-year performance and discuss rural transit expansion. The program distributed $671,000 in grants for 271 water quality projects, including 112,000 trees planted and improved management of more than 450 hectares of farmland. The committee approved renewing the program for 2026–2030 with increased funding limits and directed staff to study expanding its scope, with staff “proposing to report back to committee and council in 2027 with the findings from this study and the consultations along with a suite of options and recommendations.” A significant portion of the meeting focused on rural transit, including whether the city should explore service delivery models involving private operators. ATU Local 279 representatives argued against contracting out, while staff noted that buses currently on order are replacements, not fleet expansion. The committee also carried a motion to tighten local notification requirements for large excess-soil importation sites and heard a presentation on enhanced rock weathering as a carbon sequestration tool. ## Topics Discussed RURAL CLEAN WATER PROGRAM RENEWAL: The committee approved renewing the Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program for 2026–2030 with a $200,000 annual budget funded through a special levy on rural property taxpayers. Staff reported that from 2021–2025 the program completed 271 projects and distributed $671,000 in grants. Staff also flagged outreach as a weakness, telling committee that “although we do promote the program through a wide variety of channels, many of the participants who responded to our survey felt that it could be more effectively promoted.” Staff also noted the program “is currently carrying a surplus of over $100,000 into the 2026 year,” and said those funds “were not allocated towards projects or program delivery.” Committee approved increasing the five-year funding limit per property from $25,000 to $35,000 and directed staff to study expanding eligible projects (including climate adaptation and habitat restoration), with staff to report back in 2027. RURAL TRANSIT SERVICE EXPANSION: The committee carried a motion directing staff to examine options to expand rural transit and to explore partnerships with private transportation providers. Councillor Brown framed the issue in terms of access to daily needs, citing “demand for expanded mass transit options in rural Ottawa” as rural communities grow and residents commute to “employment, education, healthcare, and essential services.” Delegations and discussion included the impact of limited service on residents’ ability to keep jobs and stay mobile; one speaker described a resident who “just got laid off from work and unless she can find a job really quick, she’s not going to have a vehicle to drive anymore.” Union representatives from ATU Local 279 objected to contracting out. Noah Vineberg, president of ATU Local 279, said: “This is not about filling a gap. This is about making a choice. A choice to begin shifting public transit work outside of OC transport.” Another ATU representative told committee, “we’ve continued to this point with a motion without ever considering ATU’s opinion on the matter.” Staff also addressed fleet constraints, stating buses on order are replacements: “These are all replacement buses that are replacing life expired buses. They’re not to expand the fleet or expand the service.” EXCESS SOIL MANAGEMENT CONCERNS: Councillor Skolski introduced a motion focused on municipal awareness when large volumes of excess soil are imported to rural properties. The committee carried a motion requiring staff to report by Q3 2027 on how other Ontario municipalities regulate excess soil reuse sites. As an interim step by the end of Q2 2026, the city will amend Site Alteration Bylaw 2024-448 to require property owners to notify the city and the local ward councillor within five days of registering a site with the province. Skolski summarized the potential impacts of large soil importation, including “substantial truck traffic, road degradation, dust, odor, noise, erosion, storm water impacts, invasive species spread, and potential groundwater concerns.” CARBON SEQUESTRATION INITIATIVE: Bobby Vasley, founder and CEO of Canadian Wollastonite, and representatives from Undo Carbon Canada presented on enhanced rock weathering, describing the scale of carbon removal they say is required: “We’re going to need to remove somewhere around 5 to 10 billion tons of CO2 from our atmosphere every year.” Undo representatives described a Kingston partnership model where the municipality subsidizes transport costs for spreading rock on farms, and said they are looking to expand: “We’re looking to expand into about 250,000 acres of farmland in a way that supports this city’s initiatives.” HIGH-SPEED RAIL OPPOSITION: Delegate Shirley Dolan urged the city to take a position on the proposed Alto high-speed rail project and raised concerns about federal property tools. Dolan told committee: “The new federal right to first refusal essentially locks up your property for, I believe, up to eight years,” adding that once it is on title, “you cannot do any improvements to your property.” ## Motions CARRIED: - Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program renewal for 2026–2030 with increased funding limits and direction to staff to study program expansion - Rural Community Building Grant Program applications - Urban Design Review Panel procedural changes removing panel reports from development application requirements - Municipal Responsibility Agreement for 1491 Merivale Station Road - Motion directing staff to review rural transit funding models and explore private transportation partnerships - Motion requiring notification to the city and ward councillor within 5 days of excess soil site registration, with staff report on excess soil management by Q3 2027 - Interim safety measures (flashing warning beacons) at 10th Line Road and Wall Road intersection RECEIVED: - Status Update Report on inquiries and motions for period ending March 24th, 2026 - Urban design brief terms of reference and urban design guidelines update DEFERRED/PENDING: - Motion on rural home infrastructure upgrade financing program (staff report expected Q3 2027) ## Attendees The transcript does not provide a complete list of councillors present. The following councillors were identified as speaking during the meeting: - Councillor Brown - Councillor Lulof - Councillor Skolski