Audit finds issues with apprenticeship program, outsourcing of work in OC Transpo garages

The City of Ottawa's auditor general has found issues within OC Transpo's maintenance facilities surrounding supervision and certification of apprentices and around the outsourcing of some work to other garages.

The City of Ottawa's auditor general has found issues within OC Transpo's maintenance facilities surrounding supervision and certification of apprentices and around the outsourcing of some work to other garages.

The audit came following a complaint to the city's fraud and waste hotline (FWHL). A report has been prepared for the Sept. 20 Audit Committee meeting.

OC Transpo employs approximately 167 mechanics and 33 apprentices within the Transit Bus Operations and Maintenance Services department who provide 24/7 service across four garages. They oversee the maintenance and upkeep of the 738-bus and 80-minibus Para Transpo fleet, the Auditor General says. This includes responsibility for regular preventative maintenance inspections, as well as defect and collision repairs, as needed.

However, the audit found that the number of licenced mechanics working at OC Transpo has been decreasing since 2018, putting additional pressure on its ability to maintain its bus fleet. In response, OC Transpo has been growing its apprenticeship program, with the goal of increasing the number of apprentices by the end of 2024.

A fraud and waste hotline complaint alleged that apprentices were working on safety critical systems, such as brakes, without supervision. According to the audit report, OC Transpo management requires supporting documentation to demonstrate that work has been completed and it must be signed by a licenced 310T mechanic and the garage supervisor. That, however, was not always happening.

"During the investigation, we observed that there is no formal documentation outlining specific responsibilities and expectations for apprentice supervision. In our detailed testing, we found that apprentices are not consistently evidenced as being supervised as jobs that require an inspection check sheet are not always being signed off by a licensed 310T mechanic before the bus goes back into service," the report states.

The audit said 53 per cent of the inspections the office tested did not have a licenced mechanic sign off on the work and it found one case where there was no evidence of supervision of an apprentice working on rear brakes, which are a critical safety component of a bus.