A New Official Plan

The City is rewriting its Official Plan- the strategic document that describes how the city will grow over time, where we will place major infrastructure, and what policies will be in place to support economic growth and guide the development and evolution of communities. The purpose of this review is to position Ottawa to be flexible, resilient, and, above all, a city where people want to live, work, and play.

Preliminary Policy Directions

The City is proposing to make a number of significant policy changes through the Official Plan to make Ottawa the most liveable mid sized city in North America. Known as the ‘Five Big Moves’, the following statements capture the most significant policy proposals for the new Official Plan:

1. Growth: Achieve, by the end of its planning period, more growth by intensification than by greenfield development. This growth will provide a variety of affordable housing options for residents.

2. Mobility: By 2046, the majority of trips in the City of Ottawa will be made by sustainable transportation.

3. Urban Design: Improve our sophistication in urban and community design, and put this knowledge to the service of good urbanism at all scales, from the largest to the very small.

4. Resiliency: Embed public health, environmental, climate and energy resiliency into the framework of our planning policies.

5. Economy: Embed economic development into the framework of our planning policies.

Read the full 5 Big Moves report here.

Read the full report to Planning Committee and Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee here.

Welcome to the Official Plan Toolkit!

The toolkit has 4 sections: The New Official Plan, Plan, Connect, and Share. The various sections will provide information on the project, engagement and feedback tools, and how you can provide your feedback into the Official Plan. The image above illustrates how these sections work together.

Download the Toolkit.

Help us track the local workshops by emailing newop@ottawa.ca to let us about your outreach plan.

Note, as more information is developed for the new Official Plan, the Toolkit will be regularly updated with new Workshop Rubrics, etc.

You are invited to join the City of Ottawa for a Panel on Economic Development and the new Official Plan. The City of Ottawa's new Official Plan will provide a vision for the future growth of the city and guide the city's physical development.

On Tuesday, February 18^th, we have four fantastic panelists, each with a unique understanding of economic potential here in Ottawa. An English language moderated panel discussion will explore how the new Official Plan can help foster this economic development potential.

After the panel discussion, there will be an opportunity for you to ask the panelists your own questions.

Following the Q and A you are welcome to stay for some light refreshments and the opportunity to network with panelists and other attendees.

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm February 18^th, 2020

Ottawa Art Gallery, Alma Duncan Salon

Please register to attend the event here. Please note there is limited seating.

We couldn’t be more excited to engage you and the panel in an important discussion that can help shape the economic future of our great city. See the panelists profiles below to learn more about them:

Manjit Basi: An entrepreneur and leadership coach with diverse experience in business, philanthropy, and the voluntary sector. She is fascinated by the human dynamics that power up organizations and communities. Her work is inspired by the belief that people have a remarkable ability to learn and change. Manjit partners with clients to dive deep into radical self-awareness, generosity, and curiosity in order to gain radical agility and see more possibilities.

She was a Co-Founder of Synapcity, a not-for-profit social enterprise with a mission to accelerate collaboration, participatory city-making, and engagement across people, communities, and sectors.

For 21 years, Manjit owned 4 locations of The Body Shop (1987 – 2008) where she obtained an experiential and alternative MBA with a global brand that was a rabble-rouser and trail blazer in social entrepreunership and “business as unusual”. She leans into organizations where purpose, people, planet, and profits collectively thrive.

Alongside her business pursuits, Manjit holds a deep commitment to community; she volunteers in various capacities at the grassroots level and board governance. She has a quirky brain that’s secretly run by a generous heart.

Yancy Craig: Vice President Indigenous and Government Relations at Indspire. Indspire is an Indigenous-led registered charity that invests in the education of Indigenous people for the long term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada. With the support of its funding partners, Indspire disburses financial awards, delivers programs, and shares resources with the goal of closing the gap in Indigenous education.

Through the K-12 Indspire Institute, it provides resources to educators, communities, and other stakeholders who are committed to improving kindergarten to grade 12 success for Indigenous youth. In 2015-16, Indspire awarded over $12.2 million through 3,792 scholarships and bursaries to Indigenous students across Canada. Each year, the organization presents the Indspire Awards, a gala celebration of the successes achieved by Indigenous people.

Mandi Lunan: is the former owner of Auntie Loo’s Bakery and now works as a food business coach and consultant for small food business entrepreneurs.

Mandi Lunan Food Business Coach is unique from similar services in the field as she brings over a decade of real life experience as an owner here in the small business culinary community. Mandi has now worked with over 150 small culinary businesses in North America and beyond.

Mandi has worked with diverse clients in all stages of the business life cycle in North America and beyond since 2016.

Zainab Muse: The CEO & Founder, Wingd Inc. and Creatorland, she is an award-winning entrepreneur, process designer, interactive digital media expert and filmmaker. Some of her core mandates include advocating for youth leadership, women & newcomer entrepreneurship, digital transformation and diversity + inclusion in the workplace.

Not only has she been recognized as an Ottawa ambassador, she was also recently named one of the 'Top 10 Shifters in Ottawa' in 2018, and in 2019 was awarded 'Entrepreneur of the Year' by the Women in Communications & Technology (WCT). Also in 2019, she became the first Canadian Chapter Lead for Singapore/New York based organization, SoGal Foundation, with a mission to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship.

On Thursday, October 17 from 2 to 6 pm in Council Chambers at Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West, the City's Cultural Development and Initiatives Section hosted an open event called Defining Ottawa Together: Culture in the Official Plan. This public engagement session aimed to define the future of Ottawa through culture. Ideas were proposed and places/spaces were identified.

Click here to see where the ideas from that session will live, and where you can participate from Friday, October 18 to Sunday, October 27 even if you couldn't join the session

What are the big issues facing the city? Nine discussion papers outline some of the main themes of the Official Plan review and identify ideas for moving forward.

The Building Blocks for a Healthy Ottawa discussion paper

The Building Blocks for a Healthy Ottawa highlight sheet

Climate Adaptation and Resiliency discussion paper

Climate Adaptation and Resiliency highlight sheet

The Economy discussion paper

The Economy highlight sheet

Energy discussion paper

Energy highlight sheet

The Greater Ottawa-Gatineau Area discussion paper

The Greater Ottawa-Gatineau Area highlight sheet

Housing discussion paper

Housing highlight sheet

Infrastructure and Water Management discussion paper

Infrastructure and Water Management highlight sheet

Natural Ottawa discussion paper

Natural Ottawa highlight sheet

Rural Ottawa discussion paper

Rural Ottawa highlight sheet

In December 2016, Ottawa City Council directed staff to undertake a planning study to “…identify trends in housing, employment, and identify opportunities to create complete communities which, together with current Official Plan policies create an affordable and sustainable city beyond 2036…”

The goal of the Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036 study was to identify the forces that will shape Ottawa over the next century to help position the City to build both resiliency and adaptability into the next Official Plan. In order to carry out this goal and to address the high level of uncertainty of the city’s long-term future, Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036 was undertaken as a scenario based planning study to:

• identify trends and disruptors that will influence the city beyond the current 20-year planning horizon;
• identify possible future scenarios, which extend beyond the normal planning time-frame and arise from the identified drivers and disrupters; and
• identify planning considerations that will allow the City to create complete communities and be resilient and adaptable to future change.

The scenarios and planning considerations identified in this report will help to inform the setting of priorities within the next Official Plan, and may also frame the updates of the City’s other supporting Growth Management documents including the:

• Transportation Master Plan;
• Infrastructure Master Plan;
• Greenspace Master Plan; and the
• Development Charges By-law.

The Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036 study was presented to the Planning Committee on February 14, 2019.