Have Your Say: Draft 2 of Ottawa’s New Zoning By-law is Here!
The City of Ottawa has released Draft 2 of the new Zoning By-law, a document that will shape the future of our city’s development. This updated draft, including detailed zoning provisions and 16 supporting documents, is now available for review on the City’s meeting agenda webpage.
A Joint Planning and Housing and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee meeting will be held on Monday, March 31, where Councillors will consider the updated Draft 2 provisions, including potential options for several key policy issues:
Minimum parking rates for Villages
Maximum building height in Suburban N1 and N2 – Neighbourhood Zones
Conversion of the R4 – Residential Zone to N4 – Neighbourhood Zone
Building height transition framework
Join us for Public Engagement Events:
We hope you will join us June 2 at our In Person Workshop being held at Ben Franklin Place. We will also be hosting two virtual citywide open houses on May 29 and June 3. Further details on public events will be released shortly on the project’s engagement page.
For more details on the project, please visit the EngageOttawa. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the New Zoning By-law project team at NewZoning@ottawa.ca or using the public comment form.
The final version of the new Zoning By-law, Draft 3, will be presented later this year for Council approval.
Today, the City will launch the consultation on the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) Capital Infrastructure Plan, and we want to hear from you! Have your say on the future of transportation in Ottawa and share your input by completing the online surveys and participating in a public engagement session.
The draft Capital Infrastructure Plan identifies the transit and road projects that are needed to accommodate planned growth to the year 2046 and achieve the City’s mobility objectives. It also identifies a subset of projects that should be prioritized for implementation. This phase of TMP consultation also includes prioritization of the active transportation projects that were approved by Council in April 2023.
Ottawa has grown into a city of one million residents. Over the next two decades, Ottawa will gain approximately 400,000 new residents and 160,000 new jobs. With that kind of growth, we need to plan for a flexible, dependable, safe and efficient transportation network.
Get involved!
💻 Survey
Complete the surveys on the recommended road and transit projects, the prioritized list of active transportation projects, and other components of the Capital Infrastructure Plan. The survey will be open until May 12, 2025 and can be completed online at theTransportation Master Plan project page.
🗣️Public Engagement Sessions
The City will host online and in-person public consultation session on the TMP’s Capital Infrastructure Plan. Virtual sessions will include a presentation followed by a question-and-answer period. In-person sessions will have display boards showcasing project information, and members of the project team will be available to answer questions. The same information will be presented at all sessions, but discussions at each session may focus on projects specific to the local geographic area. You are welcome to attend any of the sessions, regardless of your place of residence.
East Virtual Session
📆 Monday, April 14 2025
⏱️ 6:30pm-8:30pm
💻 Register here
East In-Person Session
📆 Tuesday, April 29 2025
⏱️ 6:30pm-8:30pm
📍Ray Friel Recreation Centre – 1585 Tenth Line Road
For a full list of sessions, please consult the project webpage.
OC Transpo is gearing up to launch New Ways To Bus on April 27.
This new bus network will prioritize improved frequency, enhanced local neighborhood service, better connections to O-Train Lines 1 and 2, and easier access to key destinations.
With New Ways To Bus, over 100 bus routes will be redesigned, marking a significant shift in the bus network. This is an important step toward achieving OC Transpo’s service reliability target of 99.5%.
For more details, including the New Ways to Bus Travel Planner, visit octranspo.com.
To help residents navigate these changes, my east-end colleagues and I have worked with OC Transpo to organize a virtual information session on April 15. During this session, staff will provide you with East specific route changes that may affect your daily bus trips, help you navigate the new changes and show you how to use the Travel Planner.
Information Session:
📆 Tuesday April 15, 2025
⏱️ 7:00pm
💻 Virtual – register here
What does culture mean to you? Culture belongs to everyone. It’s something we are all already doing every day. It’s all the ways we express and celebrate who we are, how we spend our time, how we connect, how we share experiences and learn.
The City is now embarking on its first city-wide cultural planning process since 2012. With the aim of developing a new municipal Culture Plan, we are setting the stage for culture to thrive in every neighbourhood and village across Ottawa.
The new plan will reflect our diverse communities by recognizing the many ways culture is experienced in our city, with the goal of reaching 10,000 residents. To help us achieve a plan that reflects our communities and people who live in them, we need your input and participation – either in-person or online. Goals of the new Culture Plan
The new municipal Culture Plan is all about helping Ottawa’s communities thrive by meeting their evolving cultural needs. Led by the Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department, this new plan will be built with the voices of our residents, community and cultural groups at its core. This collaborative process will help us create a plan that:
Redefines culture in a way that reflects how residents experience and define it, ensuring the City’s supports and programming align with these defined goals.
Sets out a clear strategic vision and goals to guide the City in supporting residents’ access to, participation in, and expression of culture.
Develops a concrete multi-year, actionable plan with measurable steps as we progress in achieving its goals.
Provides a comprehensive publicly accessible inventory of Ottawa’s cultural resources including spaces, artists and groups.
Your voice matters
The public engagement phase for Ottawa’s next Culture Plan kicks off April 1, with a series of in-person and virtual engagement sessions. We look forward to hearing from residents, cultural groups, and community leaders so that we can ensure that all voices are heard.
To ensure broad participation, this engagement process includes online surveys, focus groups, interviews, community-led sessions, and a culture roadshow visiting each municipal ward. Our goal is to make these opportunities accessible so all residents can share what culture means to them.
A vibrant cultural scene is key to shaping the future of our communities. By focusing on collaboration in developing this plan, we will define what culture truly means to our city and how residents can see themselves reflected and be an integral part of it.
New grants available through the Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program
The Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program (ORCWP) provides funding for projects that protect surface water and groundwater quality.
Landowners completing projects in 2025 may be eligible for grants of up to $15,000 depending on the project they are undertaking. The next application deadline is May 1, 2025.
Grants are available for 19 kinds of projects related to nutrient management, soil protection, water management, land stewardship, and education and innovation. Farmers from rural and urban Ottawa, along with landowners within rural Ottawa, are eligible to apply. Non-profit organizations can apply for education and innovation projects.
Applications will be accepted through the LandOwner Resource Centre, which works in partnership with the Mississippi Valley, Rideau Valley, and South Nation Conservation Authorities and the City of Ottawa.
Contact the LandOwner Resource Centre at 613-692-3571 ext. 1136, toll free at 1-800-267-3504.
Visit ottawa.ca/cleanwater to see a full list of eligible projects and to apply online.
Out with the cold, in with the clean! Registration for the Spring Cleaning the Capital campaign began on March 14, and cleanup projects will take place across our city between April 15 and May 31.
Organise a clean-up project with your family, friends, neighbours or colleagues and help us keep the city clean and green.
Looking to be more involved in your community? Consider Ottawa’s Adopt-a-Park/Adopt-a-Road program!
Year-round, hundreds of volunteers commit to park and roadside cleanup projects, keeping Ottawa clean, green and litter-free through Ottawa.ca/adopt
With freeze/thaw cycles in full swing, potholes are popping up all over Ottawa and our Roads and Parking Services team is hard at work to fill them!
The city has already experienced 37 freeze/thaw cycles this winter season. Based on the forecast, we are anticipating several freeze-thaw cycles over the coming weeks.
The City is deploying extra crews and even brought in two Python 5000 Pothole Patchers that can fill a pothole in under two minutes, working day and night to keep our roads safe.
Potholes-by-the-numbers
The total number of potholes repaired between January 1 and March 24, 2025, is 33,701.
The total number of potholes crews assigned to pothole repairs since March 17, 2025, is 218.
For residents wishing to report a pothole, a service request can be created online here: https://ottawa.ca/en/3-1-1
Spring has arrived and the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum is hosting a day of fun, hands-on, family-friendly activities to celebrate the season’s arrival! 🌸🐥
Say hello to some baby animals with the Heritage Livestock Club of Eastern Ontario, help Henrietta Hen find her lost chicks (scavenger hunt), hop like a bunny or waddle like a duck as you challenge your friends and family to a race, get your face painted, meet a firefighter from Ottawa Fire Services, and more. You might even spot the Easter Bunny and collect a small treat or two along the way!
Activities are best suited for children ages 3 to 8; younger or older siblings are also welcome to join the fun.
Event details:
📆 April 19 from 10 am to 4 pm (final entry by 3 pm)
💰Cost: $26.38 per group. Maximum of 6 people per group; children under 2 years of age are not counted toward the maximum group size.
💻 Advance registration is required: https://tinyurl.com/a9cr5apx.
