Weekly newsletter: March 25, 2025
Hi, everyone!
I returned from Hong Kong late last week, but I think I just conquered the jetlag (12-hour time difference). It’s always a treat for my wife and I to go to see my extended family and to just be on holiday for two weeks. The bonus was the almost-perfect weather we had there.
Good news for motorists and bus passengers who commute northbound via Woodroffe — the terrible section from Navaho to Baseline (all lanes) will be fully resurfaced as part of this year’s construction season.
Staff are in the process of tendering contracts, so no timeline is available yet, but it’ll happen after the asphalt plants open in May. Hopefully sooner rather than later in the construction season, of course.
Speaking of asphalt, the spring thaw has introduced many new and returning potholes to our roadways. Kindly report them to 3-1-1 by webform↗, and it will be added to staff’s cold patch workflow. Proper repairs, including spot resurfacing, will happen once the formal construction season begins.
Newcomer reception centre update
Plan eliminated.
Two weeks ago, City staff released a memo with a major update about the newcomer reception centre (previously referred to as sprung structures).
The memo notes overflow asylum demand has been trending downwards in Ottawa and other cities across Ontario, due in part to changes to federal immigration policy in autumn 2024 and an increase in transitional housing availability.
The cancellation of the YMCA’s plan to sell its building at Catherine/O’Connor and a change in the federal government’s sale of a building near Westboro Station have also provided new opportunities for capacity.
As such, the need for the proposed temporary tent-like “sprung” structure has been eliminated.
Additionally, staff note the need for a competitive procurement process and new information about site servicing requirements have extended the temporary structure’s implementation timeline far beyond the initial expectation.
Some residents may recall what led to staff determining a competitive procurement process was needed was mired in controversy. Back in January, staff opted for the Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) process to procure a contractor to construct the structure. An ACAN basically indicates a supplier has already been pre-identified but serves as a notification to allow other suppliers to submit statements of capability.
In our case, an ACAN was given to Toronto-based BLT Construction Services mid-January. Per staff, they were the “only available and qualified vendor to perform the scope of the work required for this project.” Local contractors had two weeks to respond.
Understandably, the local construction industry was displeased, calling the City’s decision “profoundly insulting to the abilities of the local industry.” Some residents also perceived the decision as opaque sole sourcing.
Letters of concern were shared by the local construction industry, but staff continued with the process, which closed January 31. Three local contractors submitted statements demonstrating their ability to deliver the project.
In the end, staff determined a competitive process was needed, likely extending the project’s timeline by several months.
With the temporary structure eliminated, staff will continue to develop the overall system to manage asylum seekers, including the opening of a transitional housing building in Orléans that has been underway for about a year, and the acquisition of small-scale housing units across Ottawa.
Between now and late spring, a total of 675 new beds in permanent structures are or will become available between various projects noted above, compared to the 150 the sprung structure would have housed.
The rest of the memo also highlights some objectively good progress staff have made over the last year on the housing and shelter front, including 337 chronically homeless adults that received housing last year through various types of housing.
The elimination of sprung structure is good news for all, considering my ongoing belief better options and outcomes could be achieved equally for the community and asylum seekers.
Our community’s experience played out the way it did mostly because of poor process and communication. Much of it could have been avoided through a transparent and accountable process underscored by a respect of our residents.
Controversy about the process also took away from the truly important conversation about asylum seekers and how to properly support them and the community.
I’m grateful for the community’s care and engagement throughout, including those who took time from their lives to express their frustrations and thoughts in writing and in person.
Fun fact, I took the call from the Mayor in the middle of a busy metro station while I was on holiday in Hong Kong!
Should there be any future updates, I will keep you informed.
Street racing and noise enforcement
2025 edition of targeted enforcement beginning in April.
Although a bit of street racing and excessive car noise persisted through the winter, there’s no doubt a recent increase, though minor, coincides with the arrival of the nicer weather.
Unlike last year, the 2025 integrated enforcement initiative will begin much earlier in April.
The strategic deployment model is designed to deliver enforcement and education to communities across Ottawa, using intelligence and information to deploy officers to known problematic locations. The model has been in use and improved upon since late-2023.
Information is gathered through regular reviews of data from traffic complaints, social media, and other sources to create a snapshot of what is occurring.
Anticipated enforcement capacity has also been increased through more frontline officer hires (including 36 recognised in a badge ceremony last month) and additional prioritisation on muffler and noise violations as part of regular enforcement and RIDE checkpoints.
As in previous years, regular enforcement blitzes will also occur throughout at least the spring and summer in collaboration with various teams within OPS as well as other law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Transportation.
Community police teams have also been collaborating with businesses over the last few months to develop the Agent Status programme to allow for officers to intervene more promptly when vehicles are observed gathering.
Typically, trespassing can be enforced at the request of the property owner only. Under the programme, officers can act on behalf of the property owner to prohibit entry and/or remove unwanted persons from the property under the Trespass to Property Act.
Commercial businesses, residential property owners, landlords, and property managers may register for the Agent Status programme at OttawaPolice.ca↗.
It’s not realistic to expect a total elimination of racing and noise, but the OPS’s efforts last year led to considerable success in reducing and managing the issues. I’m reasonably confident last year’s results can be repeated and improved upon.
Residents may report instances of racing and noise through the OPS’s online reporting form↗. Though that won’t result in the immediate dispatch of officers, information shared by residents is valuable in guiding future enforcement efforts, both regular and targeted blitzes. Dangerous/impaired driving or emergencies should be reported by calling 9-1-1.
In other police news, construction of the new police station at 3505 Prince of Wales Drive (south of Strandherd) continues to progress well, with an unchanged mid-2026 expected operational date.
Federal election signs
Election signs permitted on public and private property. Voting day is Monday, April 28.
Many residents have probably seen the first few election signs pop up across the community, on both public and private property.
The City of Ottawa has two relevant by-laws regulating election signs, the Temporary Signs on Private Property By-law↗ and the Signs on City Roads By-law↗.
Unlike other temporary signage, permits are not required for election signs, but they are expected to be secure and displayed in a manner that does not pose a hazard (eg. blocking sightlines at Holitman/Fallowfield).
Generally, election signs cannot be placed:
Within half a metre of a sidewalk or two metres of a roadway
Affixed to a streetlight, sign, or utility post
Affixed to a tree, shrub, or other plant
Immediately at an OC Transpo bus stop, including Transitway stations
In medians or the centre of a roundabout
Obstructing regulatory or other municipal signage
If it is retro-reflective or illuminated (eg. video messaging)
If it is not secured or in any manner that causes a hazard
Election signs on public and private property must be removed 72 hours after voting day, meaning signs must be removed by 11:59 pm on Thursday. May 1.
Residents may report infractions to 3-1-1 or directly to the respective campaign office.
Other information about the election is available at Elections.ca↗. Voting day is Monday, April 28.
World War II: Commonwealth Air Training Plan
Eighty years ago this week, on March 31, 1945, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was terminated.
The programme, primarily based in Canada, was a large-scale military aircrew training plan created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to train pilots, navigators, air gunners, wireless operators, flight engineers, and other aircrew positions, for their air forces during the Second World War.
The programme also trained thousands of aircrew from other Allied nations, including Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Free France, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United States.
During the first few months of the war, negotiations for joint aircrew training took place in Ottawa.
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King agreed Canada would accept most of the programme’s costs, in return for British acknowledgement that air training would be Canada’s primary war effort. The government would end up paying about $2 billion of the programme’s $2.25 billion cost (1945 money).
Mackenzie King saw it as a means of keeping more Canadians at home and to bury the politically divisive issue of overseas conscription.
Canada was ideally suited for the programme due to good flying conditions, open skies, and our distance from Europe — both far away from active fighting, but close enough to the war theatre.
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) oversaw the programme, but to satisfy British concerns, a senior Royal Air Force commander, Robert Leckie, was posted to Ottawa as the Director of Training. Leckie Private, near the airport, is named in his honour.
At the start of the training programme in late-1939 (therefore the start of the war), the RCAF had about 4,000 personnel and fewer than a dozen airports and facilities of its own. In order to train thousands, the air force had to recruit instructors, acquire aircraft, built new facilities, and develop different schools for different specialities.
By the end of the war, the RCAF had built 7,000 buildings for bases and schools, employed 33,000 air force personnel (plus 6,000 civilians), and boasted a fleet of more than 3,500 aircraft just for the training programme. There were 151 training schools across the country in every province.
President Franklin Roosevelt called Canada “the aerodrome of democracy,” a play on his earlier description of the United States as “the arsenal of democracy.”
The British Commonwealth Air Training plan was a major success, training and graduating over 130,000 aircrew for the air forces of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Of those, almost 73,000 joined the RCAF.
The programme also improved flight safety, under the maxim “there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.” Towards the end of the war, only one fatal accident was recorded per 23,000 hours of flying time.
Civilians across Canada also pitched in as personal contributions to the training programme and overall war effort. Different organisations and volunteers ran canteens or supplied various items for barracks halls. Many people also invited trainees into their homes for meals. Flying clubs also played a vital role in primary flight training, as many of their members served in the First World War.
Despite being an ocean away and starting with a relatively small air force, Canada played a major role towards the eventual Allied victory in Europe.
The wrought iron gates at CFB Trenton were a gift from the governments of Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in 1949 to commemorate Canada’s contribution to the training plan, while the late Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the Ottawa Memorial in 1959 near the Rideau Falls to memorialise the 800 people who died in training.
That’s all for this week!
I also want to thank the many residents who shared their feedback (and some knowledge) in response to last week’s newsletter piece about lawn lights.
The City’s legal staff are researching the old Nepean by-law and looking into the feasibility now, if such a regulation were re-introduced. The information they share will likely inform what direction I take or don’t take on the topic.
Enjoy the week ahead!
-Wilson