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Cancellations explained

Por que ônibus são cancelados

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: 3 de outubro de 2026.

See the cancellation numbers

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.

Three words, three different things

Cancelado
OC Transpo or STO marked the trip as cancelled in its live data.
More detail

The operator says it. This site counts a scheduled trip’s cancellation notice when no qualifying later matching vehicle observations were retained. Trips with those observations are excluded. Missing observations do not prove that a trip did not operate.

Não veio
The trip was in the timetable, no bus was ever seen on it, and the operator posted no cancellation.
More detail

This site measured it. 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.

Não vimos este ônibus
Not enough live data reached us during that trip to tell.
More detail

Nobody can say. This is a gap in the data, not a fact about the bus. These trips are left out of both counts above.

Motivos publicados pela própria OC Transpo[City of Ottawa Open Data][OC Transpo]

Weekly, network-wide. OC Transpo’s figures, not ours.

  • On-street adjustment30% · 5.066
  • No driver available29% · 4.799
  • Nenhum ônibus disponível26% · 4.315
  • Pane16% · 2.604

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

What each reason means, week by week

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 adjustment · 5.066. Traffic, collisions or incidents on board that made the trip impossible.
  • No driver available · 4.799. No driver was free to drive the trip.
  • Nenhum ônibus disponível · 4.315. Not enough working buses for the schedule.
  • Pane · 2.604. A bus broke down and the trip could not be run.
Undelivered OC Transpo trips by reason, week by week (OC Transpo’s figures)
Week ofOn-street adjustmentNo driver availableNenhum ônibus disponívelPaneTotal
4 de jan.7394061.2823412.768
11 de jan.7146226283662.330
18 de jan.4313864003131.530
25 de jan.8118885933432.635
1 de fev.5205243002331.577
8 de fev.6048843452542.087
15 de fev.4054484092651.527
22 de fev.4754141382831.310
1 de mar.3672272202061.020
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. Look for the next bus Check the next departures at your stop. A cancelled trip often means a longer wait, not no service.
  2. Try another way Use the trip planner to find another route or stop nearby.
  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. 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. Tell other riders Report a bus that did not come on this site. Rider reports are shown apart from operator data.
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
  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. We exclude trips with qualifying later matching vehicle observations. Those observations do not prove that the notice was withdrawn or the whole trip completed.
  5. What is left is counted once per trip.
  6. On a day when we missed most bus positions, we cannot reliably check later vehicle observations. That day is shown as unknown, not counted.

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

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.

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.

Fontes

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

    Período
    January to May 2026
    Onde
    "Reasons for Undelivered Trips" and the weekly updates to Council
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    Primary source

    City of Ottawa Open Data

    Período
    January 4 to March 7, 2026
    Onde
    Sheet 03_reasons_for_undelivered, columns reason and reason_numbers
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    Primary source

    City of Ottawa Open Data

    Período
    April 2025 to April 2026
    Onde
    Sheet 06_bus_service_delivery; no breakdown by reason
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

  4. Canada Labour Code, section 169.1 (Break)

    Primary source

    Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada

    Período
    Act current to 2026-09-21
    Onde
    Section 169.1(1)
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Período
    Undated page
    Onde
    Help page, refunds question
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

  6. Contact us

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Período
    Undated page
    Onde
    General help and refund inquiries; online feedback form
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

  7. Alerts: Cancelled trips / Delays

    Primary source

    OC Transpo

    Período
    Live page
    Onde
    "Cancelled trips / Delays" section
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    News report

    CBC News (Arthur White-Crummey)

    Período
    Published September 11, 2026
    Onde
    Figures presented to the Transit Committee
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

  9. Inside the bus cancellation crisis at OC Transpo

    News report

    CBC News

    Período
    Published January 19, 2026
    Onde
    Fleet and mechanics figures
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    News report

    CBC News (Kate Porter)

    Período
    Published May 18, 2022
    Onde
    Break rule in effect April 24, 2022
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    News report

    Radio-Canada

    Período
    Published May 19, 2023
    Onde
    Daily STO cancellations and trip volume
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

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

    News report

    Radio-Canada

    Período
    Published September 20, 2023
    Onde
    Union estimate of daily cancellations
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte

  13. Exchanges and refunds

    Primary source

    STO

    Período
    Undated page
    Onde
    Refund request, exceptional cases
    Verificado
    3 de outubro de 2026
    Abrir a fonte