Staffing shortages continue to plague O

Staffing shortages continue to plague O-Train service. Fixing it could take more than a year

OC Transpo unveiled 'ambitious' recruitment and training program Thursday

It could take until late next year for OC Transpo to fully meet its training targets to bring on more critical O-Train workers, as staffing shortages continue to sap the reliability of the system.

According to a presentation to council’s transit committee on Thursday, OC Transpo has a target of recruiting and training 135 rail operators and 25 rail controllers. Some are slated for the east-west electric line, while others will work on the diesel lines to the south and airport.

Sabrina Pasian, OC Transpo’s chief safety officer, said that doesn’t represent the current staffing shortage, but accounts for retirements, attrition and planned expansions, as well as candidates who drop out of the hiring process.

She said the targets aim to slightly exceed the agency’s needs, in order to provide "redundancy."

"We are in the process of significantly ramping up our efforts," Pasian said of the training program.

Yet meeting the targets will take many months. According to a timeline she shared with the committee, it could take until next March for electric rail operators on Line 1, and until next June for diesel rail operators, who work on lines 2 and 4.

The timeline for meeting the rail controller training target is set at "beyond August 2027."

While operators physically work in and operate the trains, controllers work in a control centre and serve as the brain of the system, operating signals and switches while issuing directives control the movements of trains.

Shortage led to shutdown, interruptions

Last month, a shortage of controllers temporarily shut down Line 1 service on May 16, while Line 4 service was also interrupted that day due to "reduced staffing availability."

Pasian said the May shutdown stemmed from a unique confluence of factors and there's no current controller shortage. But in her presentation to the committee, she noted that a lack of available rail operators on lines 2 and 4 has caused service delivery to decline from about 98 per cent to roughly 90 per cent.

"This is directly tied to ongoing staffing shortages," she said.

Similar problems have plagued the bus system, with about 29 per cent of cancelled trips early this year stemming from a lack of available drivers.

"We have been heavily relying on overtime, but this is not sustainable," Pasian said.

To fill the gap, OC Transpo has a training target of 372 bus operators and 30 Para Transpo operators. They’re expected to be trained up by the end of this year.

Inside the bus cancellation crisis at OC Transpo

OC Transpo has long blamed a mechanic shortage for poor bus reliability. The plan has a training target of 38 for those positions and expects to reach that goal by May 2027.

Pasian explained that recruiting a new employee can take between 100 and 150 days, depending on the position. While some will spend less than a month in training, others can take up to 300 days. Pasian said training for controllers is especially lengthy.

She said OC Transpo will not rush that process, since the work is "safety-critical."

While she said there will always be some risk of a shutdown or service disruptions so long as shortages continue, she said training for some positions has already begun and new employees will begin to trickle out this summer and into the fall.

"We do anticipate that will help address some of the issues we've seen, both on the bus side and lines 2 and 4," she said.

Noah Vineberg, president of ATU 279, the local that represents OC Transpo operators and mechanics, welcomed the new targets, but said that filling those staffing gaps will take much more than putting up a billboard — especially given the fierce competition for those workers.

"Its definitely needed," he said of the plan. "I'm curious how we're going to get there, because every transit agency is looking for people and everyone is having a hard time."

He said OC Transpo needs to work on improving morale to creating a workplace that encourages more employees to stay.

Arthur White-Crummey is the municipal affairs reporter at CBC Ottawa. He grew up in Ottawa, spent years in Saskatchewan covering the courts, city hall and the provincial legislature, before moving back to his hometown. You can reach him at arthur.white-crummey@cbc.ca