The City of Ottawa, Ontario announced it received Federal Environmental Assessment approval for the Ottawa Light Rail Transit (OLRT) project.

The $2.1 billion OLRT project will generate over $3.2 billion in economic activity and 20,000 person-years of employment during construction alone, according to project officials. Once built, the eight-mile system, which features 13 stations, will carry in excess of 10,000 people per hour per direction during the morning rush hour and save transit riders approximately 15 minutes from their daily commutes.

Work to achieve Federal Environmental Assessment approval began in earnest in March 2010. With this announcement the federal government now joins the provincial government, which granted its environmental assessment approval in August 2010.

The OLRT project is currently in the Request-for-Proposals phase of the procurement process. Three world-class consortia have been shortlisted to compete for the project contract and council is scheduled to ratify the winner in late 2012. Construction of the OLRT project would begin in early 2013.