Mayor Mark Sutcliffe opened today’s City Council meeting by bidding farewell to Renée Amilcar, Ottawa’s outgoing General Manager of Transit Services, praising her as a leader who “will bring a wealth of expertise to her new position.”
Amilcar, who took the helm of OC Transpo in 2022, arrived at what Sutcliffe called “a difficult point” for the transit agency. Undaunted by the significant challenges she faced, Sutcliffe said Amilcar leaves the system in a much stronger position than when she arrived.
To mark the occasion, Sutcliffe and City General Manager Wendy Stephanson presented Amilcar with a framed photograph of her walking along the canal—a quiet tribute to a high-profile and often pressure-filled role.
An emotional Amilcar thanked her Council colleagues, calling her time in Ottawa “a period that has felt very fast.” The former STM (Société de transport de Montréal) Executive Director of Bus Services shared that she initially declined the offer to join OC Transpo, but ultimately felt “a calling to serve,” and is grateful she answered it.
She spoke with pride about how the leadership team at OC Transpo has evolved, describing it as “one of the best groups of experts” she’s had the privilege to work with.
Amilcar’s own expertise has not gone unnoticed. During a recent trip to Hamburg, she was unanimously re-elected to a second term as president of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP)—a position she says has brought invaluable connections and insight to Ottawa’s transit system.
She also took a moment to thank her elderly mother, who travelled from Montreal to be at Council today, and proudly mentioned that her daughter had recently graduated from Concordia University.
Council gave Amilcar a standing ovation as she left the podium. But the work wasn’t quite done yet—she returned to her seat at the Council table to participate in her final meeting.
Amilcar now moves on to become the President and CEO of Mobilité Infra Québec, an organization under Quebec’s Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility—a new position the province created earlier this year.
Troy Charter, currently the city’s Director of Transit Service and Rail Operations, will step in as interim general manager at OC Transpo.
In his closing remarks, Mayor Sutcliffe reiterated his gratitude, noting key accomplishments during Amilcar’s tenure: improved performance on Line 1, the successful launch of Lines 2 and 4, and progress toward the Line 1 extensions, set to open in 2025.
Recently, under Amilcar’s leadership, the city launched the “New Ways to Bus” initiative, which restructured transit routes to shift focus away from traditional suburb-to-downtown commutes.
While Amilcar’s time in Ottawa marked progress on several fronts, the day-to-day reliability of bus service—particularly buses arriving on time—remains a persistent challenge. With the city’s new fleet of zero-emission buses expected to roll out in 2026, there’s cautious optimism that some of these long-standing issues will begin to improve.
