The math
What four days a week actually costs
Four days in the office instead of three is a 33% increase in commute days, and nobody was given a raise for it. Here is what that costs in fuel and parking from twelve places people actually commute from — with every assumption written down so you can substitute your own.
Prices checked September 4, 2026.
What this assumes
All of it. If you disagree with an input, you should find that out before you read the totals rather than after.
- Fuel price
- $1.70 per litre, regular unleaded in Ottawa. It moved between $1.60 and $1.82 over the preceding month.
- Fuel consumption
- 8.5 L per 100 km — a mid-size car in mixed driving. A larger vehicle or a winter month will be worse.
- Days in the office
- 4 days a week, which is about 17.3 commute days in an average month.
- Parking
- $195 a month. Downtown Ottawa monthly rates ran roughly $125 to $250, with the Centretown lots the federal towers sit among at the higher end.
- Distance
- Approximate one-way road distance to the Confederation Square area, rounded to the nearest kilometre. Your own route will differ by a few kilometres depending on which end of a neighbourhood you live in.
- Transit, for comparison
- $138.50 a month for an adult monthly pass. A combined OC Transpo and STO monthly fare is capped at the same amount.
One parking figure is used for every row, including the Gatineau one, so the rows compare like with like. Hull-side parking generally runs lower, so treat that row as the conservative end. Fuel and parking are shown in separate columns precisely so you can drop in your own number and re-add.
Twelve origins
"Shared" is the same commute with one other person in the car — fuel and parking both halve, because two people need one parking space rather than two. Two people, not four: it is the commonest real carpool and the least flattering assumption available.
| From | One way | Fuel / mo | Parking / mo | Total / mo | Total / yr | Shared / mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrhaven | 20 km | $100 | $195 | $295 | $3,541 | $148 |
| Manotick | 26 km | $130 | $195 | $325 | $3,902 | $163 |
| Riverside South | 19 km | $95 | $195 | $290 | $3,481 | $145 |
| Orléans | 21 km | $105 | $195 | $300 | $3,601 | $150 |
| Rockland | 36 km | $180 | $195 | $375 | $4,502 | $188 |
| Embrun | 42 km | $210 | $195 | $405 | $4,863 | $203 |
| Russell | 45 km | $225 | $195 | $420 | $5,043 | $210 |
| Casselman | 57 km | $285 | $195 | $480 | $5,764 | $240 |
| Kanata | 24 km | $120 | $195 | $315 | $3,782 | $158 |
| Stittsville | 30 km | $150 | $195 | $345 | $4,142 | $173 |
| Kemptville | 56 km | $280 | $195 | $475 | $5,704 | $238 |
| Buckingham (Gatineau) | 32 km | $160 | $195 | $355 | $4,262 | $178 |
Illustrative, not a quote. These are averages applied uniformly; they exclude insurance, maintenance, tires, depreciation and tolls, all of which make driving alone more expensive rather than less. Names in the first column link to that route's page where one exists.
Where the numbers come from
- Ottawa regular unleaded price — CTV Ottawa and the 613today Ontario fuel tracker · 2026-08
- Downtown Ottawa monthly parking range — SpotAngels · 2026-08
- OC Transpo adult monthly pass, effective 1 January 2026 — OC Transpo · 2026-01
- Motor gasoline CO₂ emission factor (2,307 g/L) — Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Inventory Report, Annex 6 · 2024-05
- Four-day in-office requirement for core public administration, effective 6 July 2026 · 2026-07
If a figure here is out of date or wrong, write to support@ihopon.com and it will be corrected — this page is meant to be useful to people who will never sign up, and it is no use to anyone if it can't be trusted.
You don't need a crowd — just one other person
One other person in the car takes both of those columns down by half. iHopOn matches verified public servants going the same way, free, with no addresses shared and no money changing hands.
An independent project, not affiliated with any employer. Built and paid for by one public servant, on their own time.