Ottawa's next Municipal Culture Plan

In early March, our three Culture Liaisons, two Francophone Liaisons and one Rural Culture Liaison successfully completed a key phase of community outreach work for the Culture Plan.

The Rural Culture Liaison supported engagement across rural communities by developing and carrying out an outreach plan to gather input from residents and local organizations. The Francophone Liaisons focused on Francophone arts, culture and heritage, ensuring that Franco-Ontarian and Francophone newcomers voices and perspectives were meaningfully represented in the Culture Plan engagement process.

Together, this team helped us reach communities that are often underrepresented and ensured their experiences, priorities and cultural contributions were captured in this stage of the project.

Their work has strengthened the depth and diversity of community feedback, informing the 2026–2031 Culture Plan.

Last week, the Culture Plan team completed three online validation sessions with the culture sector across Ottawa. These sessions were an important opportunity to hear directly from cultural leaders and ensure the Culture Plan continues to reflect the diversity, strength and creativity of our city’s cultural ecosystem.

Ottawa is home to more than 900 cultural groups and thousands of artists whose work shapes the cultural life of our communities. Their input helps strengthen the direction of the Culture Plan and supports ongoing collaboration across the sector.

Thank you to all culture sector participants for sharing their insights and contributing to this stage of the Culture Plan. Your collaboration continues to guide and inspire this work.

Ottawa is a large city with many different voices and experiences. Ottawa’s Next Municipal Culture Plan needs to ensure it benefits from reaching rural, francophone, Inuit, and Indigenous communities across our city.

To help us achieve this, we are working with Cultural Liaisons. Our Cultural Liaisons are community members who are organizing opportunities to connect with and capture these voices over the next few weeks. If you’re interested in hosting one of our liaisons or would like to learn more, please email Culture@ottawa.ca.

The City of Ottawa is moving closer to launching its Municipal Culture Plan, a roadmap to strengthen and celebrate our city’s cultural identity. Phase 1 has successfully laid the foundation for this transformative initiative.

Key achievements

• 16,000+ residents reached: Nearly 6,000 participants shared ideas through events, interviews and surveys

• Citywide participation: Every ward hosted at least one in-person session, supported by additional events with community partners and City staff.

Community insights

• Culture matters: Residents told us that culture thrives in our stories, art, food, and shared traditions. They want more opportunities to experience culture in their local communities.

• Top priorities: Better access to cultural experiences through improved transportation and affordability. More information about what’s happening at a local level.

• Key barriers: Information, transportation and affordability.

Next steps

We are looking forward to exploring the common themes of access, inclusion, infrastructure, innovation, honouring the land, and storytelling as we draft the culture plan.
In early March we will be hosting focus groups to review and shape the draft action plan.

Brilliant Voices, created by Britannia Woods Community Services, is a youth-led creative arts program that uses photography, videography, storytelling, and media as tools for self-expression and community connection. The program helps youth develop creative and technical skills while learning, creating, and supporting one another.

Brilliant Voices has worked with the culture plan team to advance cultural engagement and ensure underrepresented voices help shape Ottawa’s cultural future. Through this collaboration, youth participated in community gatherings, sporting events, and cultural festivals - interviewing residents and capturing authentic stories about what people want reflected in the Culture Plan.

Story spotlight: Maliha’s moment

At the “In Our Voices” youth showcase hosted by Britannia Woods, 16-year-old Maliha, a Brilliant Voices participant, confidently presented a short video she filmed and edited herself. Her project captured cultural events and interviews with residents, weaving together stories that reflect Ottawa’s diverse identity.

For Maliha, this was more than a creative exercise; it was a chance to ensure her community’s voice is heard in shaping Ottawa’s Culture Plan. Programs like Brilliant Voices show why connecting with underrepresented communities is essential: they transform voiceless perspectives into powerful contributions that make the Culture Plan truly inclusive.

After connecting with more than 536 of you online, our survey is now officially closed! Thank you for your opinions and comments in helping us improve Ottawa's cultural scene. Make sure to check us out often at engage.ottawa.ca to know what the Cultural Plan team is doing next.

The City of Ottawa’s Cultural Development and Initiatives team is looking to hire two francophone culture liaisons to undertake research and support engagement informing the development of the City of Ottawa’s next Municipal Culture Plan 2026-2031.

The feedback collected through the work of the francophone liaisons will be used to support the inclusion of francophone perspectives, voices and needs in:

• The creation of a City-wide definition of culture to be used across the City of Ottawa’s departments and programs
• The development of a five-year action plan to better support cultural access, participation and expression for all
• Mapping and gap analysis of Ottawa’s cultural spaces, resources and artists

Successful candidates must have lived experience of, or demonstrated deep connection to either or both:

• The Franco-Ontarian community in Ottawa
• Francophone newcomer communities in Ottawa

Skills profile

Ideal candidates will have the following knowledge and skills:

• Experience working with diverse communities
• Experience (formal or informal) facilitating conversations among community members, including navigating different points of view
• Knowledge of either:
  1. The franco-Ontarian community and culture of the Ottawa area
  2. The diverse francophone newcomer communities of Ottawa
• Involvement in francophone community and cultural organizations, groups or projects
• Fluent in French

Work to be delivered

• Engagement plan outlining the way the liaison will connect with francophone residents and cultural groups
• Budget for delivering engagement activities
• Planning of conversations, interviews and other engagement activities
• Facilitation of planned conversations
• Preparing data for analysis by City staff
• Summary report of findings
• Presentation of findings to community for validation
• Sharing community-validated findings with the City of Ottawa’s Arts and Heritage Development Branch

Timeline

This work will be carried out between November 2025 and December 2025

What does it pay?

This is a temporary, short-term contract of up to $10,000 (inclusive of HST).

This contract does not constitute employment with the City of Ottawa.

Payment breakdown

Estimated rate per hour: $81.90

Planning and budgeting (16 hours)

Preparation of engagement sessions (30 hours)

Engagement sessions with community members (10 x 3 hours)

Validation sessions with community members (10 x 1 hour)

Compiling and preparing information (20 hours)

Report writing (10 hours)

Sharing findings with City staff (3 x 2 hours)

Total anticipated hours: 122

Project budget

This position comes with a project budget of $5,000 to spend towards organizing and delivering engagement activities including, where needed, venue rentals, supplies, and honoraria.

Selection process

All applications will be reviewed by a panel of City staff and a representative of a local francophone community organization.

Applications are expected to include:

• A letter or video of interest that outlines your connection to francophone culture in Ottawa
• A résumé or CV including community involvement and/or volunteer work

How to apply

Please send your application to culture@ottawa.ca by Tuesday, October 21, 2025.

Alternative formats, such as audio/visual applications, will also be accepted.

Questions? Need more information?

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please reach out to Thomas Radford at Thomas.Radford@ottawa.ca or 1 (613) 413-2062.

For more information about the City of Ottawa’s next culture plan 2026-2031 please visit Engage Ottawa - Culture Plan. For more information about the City of Ottawa’s cultural development work please visit City of Ottawa - Cultural Development.

The City of Ottawa’s Arts and Heritage Development Branch is looking to hire an Inuit Culture Liaison to undertake research and community engagement that will inform the development of a new City of Ottawa Culture Plan, an Indigenous Culture Program, and Public Art Program processes. The feedback obtained from the work of the Inuit Culture Liaison will shape a new Culture Plan for the City of Ottawa, inform a funding program that will support Anishinabe Algonquin and urban Indigenous cultural initiatives, programming and services, as well as impact the processes and opportunities offered by the Public Art Program.

Successful candidates must be members of the Inuit community.

Ideal candidates will have the following knowledge and skills:

• experience working with Inuit community
• lived experience (e.g., first-hand involvement and/or personal experience) with Inuit culture and traditional knowledge
• knowledge of organizations supporting Indigenous communities in the Ottawa area
• transportation plan or driver’s licence to reach communities

The work to be completed by the Liaison:

• Conduct engagement sessions with communities to identify needs, priorities and challenges as they relate to culture in Indigenous communities
• Compile information gathered from the engagement sessions
• Present the findings to the community for validation
• Share the findings with City of Ottawa’s Arts and Heritage Development Branch staff

Timeline to complete this work?

This work will be carried out between October 2025 and March 2026, with a possible extension of this position to further impact the existing processes and opportunities offered by the City of Ottawa Arts and Heritage Development Branch

What does it pay?

This is a temporary, short-term contract of up to $10,000, inclusive of HST, if applicable (not inclusive of an additional extension).

What is the selection process?

All applications will be reviewed by a panel of City staff and/or representatives of the Inuit community. Applications are to include:

• a CV and/or letter of interest
• successful applicants will be asked for proof of membership or letter of support from the community the applicant is a member of

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview and may be asked for references.

How do I apply?

Please send your application to infoculture@ottawa.ca by Friday, October 17, 2025. Alternative formats, such as audio/visual applications, will also be accepted.

Questions? Need more information?

If you have any questions about this opportunity, or if you require access and disability accommodations, reach out to Caroline Matt at caroline.matt@ottawa.ca or 613-799-2761.