Auditor general says practices ‘undermine the job evaluation process… and create unfairness and inequity within staffing processes’
OC Transpo repeatedly used back‑door appointments and relaxed qualification standards to fill management jobs, undermining fairness and risking operational problems, a new investigation by Ottawa’s auditor general has found.
In the OC Transpo Recruitment and Staffing Investigation, Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon says her office “substantiated the allegations related to the use of appointments by OC Transpo.”
Those allegations included appointments of individuals who did not meet the minimum requirements of the position and the use of appointments to fill permanent vacancies or temporary vacancies of more than 12 months.
The probe was triggered by multiple reports to the City of Ottawa’s Fraud and Waste Hotline about recruitment and staffing actions for Management and Professional Exempt (MPE) positions, covering MPE02 to MPE08 roles such as superintendents, program managers, managers and directors, primarily from 2021 to 2025.
Contraventions of job requirements
Under the city’s MPE Terms and Conditions of Employment, “new positions, permanent vacancies and temporary vacancies of more than 12 months should be posted for competition.”
Investigators identified 10 contraventions of this requirement, involving appointments to permanent vacancies or temporary vacancies exceeding 12 months. In seven of those 10 cases, the appointees “did not meet the education or the experience requirement of the position as outlined in the job description.”
The report warns that while appointments can sometimes be appropriate, “if used inappropriately or if overused, there may be downsides.” Appointments “reduce the fairness and transparency of staffing practices and may negatively impact employee retention,” the auditor notes, adding that “more competent and qualified candidates may have been identified” if competitions had been held.
Practices ‘undermine job evaluation process’
The investigation also found four cases where candidates were screened into competitions and selected “without meeting the minimum requirements identified in the job description.” According to the city’s Education and Experience Equivalency Guidelines, equivalencies are meant to be a “reduction of one year of education or experience, and a corresponding increase of one year or more of the other factor.”
In the OC Transpo files reviewed, the report says, “an equivalency could not be established” and “the hiring manager’s rationale to support these decisions was not available.”
These practices “undermine the job evaluation process” and “create unfairness and inequity within staffing processes, as individuals with the same qualifications are not being treated the same way,” the auditor writes. Some potential applicants “may not have applied to the position, assuming they would not be screened in,” even as less qualified candidates were advanced.
Outdated job documentation
The report also flags outdated job documentation. The Periodic Review of MPE Jobs Procedure is supposed to ensure job descriptions are reviewed every five to 10 years, yet two of the applicable job descriptions had not been rated or revised since 2013, well beyond the prescribed cycle. That, the auditor says, “suggests that the education and experience requirements within these job descriptions should be reviewed.”
In its conclusion, the investigation cautions that “hiring individuals who do not meet the required qualifications creates inequity and unfairness in recruitment and staffing processes, and the absence of the required qualifications could lead to operational issues.”
Management at OC Transpo told the auditor it believed it had hired “experienced individuals who were well suited to these roles,” which the report says, “reinforces the need to complete regular job evaluations” so requirements align with “operational realities.”
Recommendations for OC Transpo HR
All three findings are rated “Moderate” priority and come with detailed recommendations. The auditor calls on the general manager of transit services and the chief human resources officer to ensure that:
- all new positions, permanent vacancies and vacancies over 12 months are “consistently posted for competition,” with any exceptions documented and approved;
- the “rationale supporting recruitment and staffing decisions (e.g., establishing equivalencies, screening candidates into competitions etc.) is appropriately documented and retained”; and
- minimum education and experience requirements for MPE roles are reviewed on the schedule set out in the job‑evaluation procedure.
Management “agrees with the recommendation” in each case, according to the report. It pledges to “strengthen existing staffing processes,” clarify expectations for hiring managers, leverage the internal recruitment team, and standardize documentation, with process changes expected by the end of Q3 2026 and job‑description reviews completed by Q2 2027.
