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Cancellations explained

Why buses get cancelled

A cancelled trip is a bus the operator says will not run. This page explains why it happens, how often, and what you can do.

Sources checked: October 3, 2026

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The short answer

  • OC Transpo says trips are not delivered for four main reasons: traffic and incidents on the road, no driver available, no bus available, and breakdowns.
  • In early 2026, OC Transpo’s own weekly figures split about evenly between those causes. Problems with buses (no bus, or a breakdown) were the largest group.
  • The live data riders see gives no reason for any single trip. So this site never says why one trip was cancelled.
See the cancellation numbers →

Three words, three different things

These words are easy to mix up. They come from different places, so this site keeps them apart.

“Cancelled”
The operator says it.
OC Transpo or STO marked the trip as cancelled in its live data.
More detail

This site counts a trip as cancelled only when it was in that day’s published timetable and no bus ran it afterward. Some notices are taken back and the bus runs. Those are not counted.

“Did not come”
This site measured it.
The trip was in the timetable, no bus was ever seen on it, and the operator posted no cancellation.
More detail

The live feed was working during that trip, so missing data is not the reason. But a bus can run with its tracker off. Treat it as a strong sign, not proof.

“We did not see this bus”
Nobody can say.
Not enough live data reached us during that trip to tell.
More detail

This is a gap in the data, not a fact about the bus. These trips are left out of both counts above.

Why OC Transpo cancels trips

Everything in this section is what OC Transpo, the City of Ottawa, the law, or news reports said. Each line is linked to its source below.

OC Transpo’s own published reasons (weekly, network-wide)[City of Ottawa Open Data][OC Transpo]

These are OC Transpo’s numbers, not ours. They are totals for the whole network for each week. They do not say which trips were affected. OC Transpo counts a trip as “undelivered” when it did not run. The City’s open dataset with reasons stops at March 7, 2026.

  • On-street adjustment30% · 5,066

    Traffic, collisions or incidents on board that made the trip impossible.

  • No driver available29% · 4,799

    No driver was free to drive the trip.

  • No bus available26% · 4,315

    Not enough working buses for the schedule.

  • Breakdown16% · 2,604

    A bus broke down and the trip could not be run.

16,784 undelivered trips in these nine weeks, as published by OC Transpo.

Undelivered OC Transpo trips by reason, week by week (OC Transpo’s figures)
Undelivered OC Transpo trips by reason, week by week (OC Transpo’s figures)
Week ofOn-street adjustmentNo driver availableNo bus availableBreakdownTotal
Jan 47394061,2823412,768
Jan 117146226283662,330
Jan 184313864003131,530
Jan 258118885933432,635
Feb 15205243002331,577
Feb 86048843452542,087
Feb 154054484092651,527
Feb 224754141382831,310
Mar 13672272202061,020

Driver breaks: a staffing issue, not a ban on driving

Operator says

Since April 24, 2022, OC Transpo drivers must get a 30-minute break in every five hours of work. This comes from the federal Canada Labour Code, section 169.1.[Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada][CBC News]

The rule does not cancel trips by itself. It means more drivers are needed to run the same schedule. When there are not enough drivers to cover the breaks, trips go unstaffed.

News report

In May 2022, CBC reported about 300 trips a day were being cancelled out of about 8,000, and OC Transpo planned to hire 300 drivers.[CBC News]

In September 2026, CBC reported that driver availability, “sometimes because of federally mandated break times”, is still one of the main causes.[CBC News]

We found no source tying OC Transpo cancellations to any separate driving-hours rule. If one exists, this page will add it with its source.

Old buses and too few mechanics

News report

In January 2026, CBC reported that OC Transpo has 738 buses and needs 520 on the road at peak. In the first week after the holidays, only 467 were available on an average weekday.[CBC News]

The same report said OC Transpo had 140 licensed mechanics and needed 180. Older buses break down more and take longer to fix.[CBC News]

Operator says

New electric buses have been arriving through 2026. OC Transpo said 111 were available for service in the week of May 3, 2026.[OC Transpo]

The latest published figures

Operator says

For May 3 to 9, 2026, OC Transpo reported 326 undelivered trips, or 0.6% of bus service. Its target is to deliver 99.5% of trips.[OC Transpo][City of Ottawa Open Data]

News report

In September 2026, CBC reported figures shown to the City’s Transit Committee: in August 2026, 3.0% of trips were “missed”. That means 2.2% left more than 20 minutes late and 0.9% did not run at all. In January 2026 the missed share was 13.4%.[CBC News]

Note that “missed” in that report includes very late trips. “Cancelled” on this site does not.

Trips taken out of the schedule do not show as cancelled

In January 2026, OC Transpo said it had temporarily removed 255 trips a day from the schedule, until more buses were available. A trip that is not in the timetable cannot be cancelled. So it never appears in any cancellation count, ours or OC Transpo’s.[OC Transpo]

STO in Gatineau

News report

In May 2023, Radio-Canada reported that STO was cancelling about 20 trips a day, out of more than 2,500, because of a shortage of drivers.[Radio-Canada]

In September 2023, the STO drivers’ union said 50 to 125 trips a day were being cancelled. STO posted its cancellations daily on X.[Radio-Canada]

We found no current STO report that gives cancellation numbers or reasons. That is unknown, not zero.

Why we cannot tell you the reason for your trip

The live data from OC Transpo and STO marks a trip as cancelled. It has no field that says why.

OC Transpo’s alert messages do not say why either. A typical one reads: “75 Tunney’s Pasture: The trip is cancelled from BARRHAVEN CENTRE Station 17:37 to TUNNEY’S PASTURE Station 18:24.”

OC Transpo publishes reasons only as weekly totals for the whole network. So this site will never guess the reason for one trip.

What to do when your trip is cancelled

  1. 1

    Look for the next bus

    Check the next departures at your stop. A cancelled trip often means a longer wait, not no service.

  2. 2

    Try another way

    Use the trip planner to find another route or stop nearby.

  3. 3

    Check the operator’s list

    OC Transpo lists cancelled trips and delays on its alerts page. You can text your stop number to 560560 or call 613-560-1000 for next arrivals.

  4. 4

    Tell the operator

    OC Transpo takes comments through the online feedback form on its contact page. For general help, call 613-560-5000. For STO, call 819-770-3242.

  5. 5

    Tell other riders

    Report a bus that did not come on this site. Rider reports are shown apart from operator data.

Plan another trip →Report a bus that did not come →OC Transpo cancelled trips list →

Can I get my fare back?

Operator says

OC Transpo says no. Its help page says refunds are not given “for service issues”, and that this includes late or cancelled buses and trains.[OC Transpo]

STO’s refund page lists only exceptional cases, such as the death of the pass holder. We found nothing for cancelled trips.[STO]

How otranspo.ca counts a cancellation

We measured

  1. We keep every cancellation notice the operators publish.
  2. We check each one against the published timetable for that day.
  3. If the trip is not in the timetable, we do not count it.
  4. If a bus ran the trip after the notice ended, the notice was taken back. We do not count it.
  5. What is left is counted once per trip.

Raw notices are often two to five times higher than the count. Both numbers are shown on the data page, side by side.

See the cancellation numbers →Full methods →

Sources

Every fact in the “why” sections comes from one of these. Operator and government sources are primary. News reports are secondary.

  1. Updates on O-Train Line 1 and bus service delivery (bus service delivery action plan)

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Period
    January to May 2026
    Where
    "Reasons for Undelivered Trips" and the weekly updates to Council
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  2. OC Transpo Bus Service Delivery Action Plan Key Performance Indicators (BusServiceActionPlanKPIs.xlsx)

    Primary source

    City of Ottawa Open Data

    Period
    January 4 to March 7, 2026
    Where
    Sheet 03_reasons_for_undelivered, columns reason and reason_numbers
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  3. OC Transpo Service and Ridership KPIs (OC_Transpo_Service_and_Ridership_KPIs.xlsx)

    Primary source

    City of Ottawa Open Data

    Period
    April 2025 to April 2026
    Where
    Sheet 06_bus_service_delivery; no breakdown by reason
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  4. Canada Labour Code, section 169.1 (Break)

    Primary source

    Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada

    Period
    Act current to 2026-09-21
    Where
    Section 169.1(1)
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  5. Help: Can I get a refund on my fare if a bus or train is late or cancelled?

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Period
    Undated page
    Where
    Help page, refunds question
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  6. Contact us

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Period
    Undated page
    Where
    General help and refund inquiries; online feedback form
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  7. Alerts: Cancelled trips / Delays

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Period
    Live page
    Where
    "Cancelled trips / Delays" section
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  8. OC Transpo missing fewer bus trips, but still missing targets

    News report

    CBC News (Arthur White-Crummey)

    Period
    Published September 11, 2026
    Where
    Figures presented to the Transit Committee
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  9. Inside the bus cancellation crisis at OC Transpo

    News report

    CBC News

    Period
    Published January 19, 2026
    Where
    Fleet and mechanics figures
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  10. OC Transpo to hire 300 drivers as bus trip cancellations rise

    News report

    CBC News (Kate Porter)

    Period
    Published May 18, 2022
    Where
    Break rule in effect April 24, 2022
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  11. La STO doit annuler quotidiennement une vingtaine de trajets par manque de chauffeurs

    News report

    Radio-Canada

    Period
    Published May 19, 2023
    Where
    Daily STO cancellations and trip volume
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  12. Le Syndicat des chauffeurs d’autobus s’insurge contre les annulations de trajet à la STO

    News report

    Radio-Canada

    Period
    Published September 20, 2023
    Where
    Union estimate of daily cancellations
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source

  13. Exchanges and refunds

    Primary source

    STO

    Period
    Undated page
    Where
    Refund request, exceptional cases
    Checked
    October 3, 2026
    Open source