Council approves Transportation Master Plan

Council today approved the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) Capital Infrastructure Plan, which will guide the development of the City’s transportation system to 2046. The Plan identifies the transit, road, and active transportation investments that are required to support Ottawa’s projected growth and allow for a connected and liveable City. It lays the foundation for long-term, coordinated investment in Ottawa’s transportation system. It informs annual budgets, the development charges background study and the City’s long-range financial plans.

The Capital Infrastructure Plan includes the following two networks for both transit and road projects:

• The Needs-based Networks identify all projects needed to address City mobility needs to 2046, based on the Official Plan’s population and employment growth projections.
• The Priority Networks identify a subset of projects that should be prioritized for implementation, based on affordability within the City’s long-range financial plans. The projects were prioritized using a Council-approved framework. These investments focus on delivering the most essential and cost-effective infrastructure to encourage sustainable mobility, accommodate growth to 2046, and improve access across Ottawa.

The City’s “transit first” approach ensures that road investments were only considered where transit would not be enough to meet travel demand. The plan adds road capacity projects, including road widenings and new roads or road extensions that support growth by providing access to development and addressing congestion bottlenecks. Pedestrian, cycling and transit facilities will be incorporated as appropriate in all road capacity projects, as per the City’s Complete Streets Policy.

The TMP also includes the prioritized list of Council-approved active transportation projects, identifying sidewalk and cycling improvements for the first phase of implementation in the next seven to 10 years. These projects target critical walking and cycling missing links and network expansion opportunities where no other works are planned. They add or upgrade facilities such as bridges, major structures, sidewalks, street crossings, multi-use pathways, bike lanes, and cycle tracks. The Priority Road and Transit Networks include approximately $3.9 billion in City-led capital projects, with $2.3 billion in transit projects and $1.6 billion in road projects.  More information on projects can be found in the report.

Centre éducatif Pinocchio move approved

Council approved a plan to move the Centre éducatif Pinocchio, a French-language municipal child care centre, from its current location at 111 Sussex Drive to a new facility at 1010 Somerset Street West. The new location will be part of a French-language elementary school planned to open in September 2027 within the future Gladstone Village community hub, between the neighbourhoods of Little Italy, Hintonburg and Chinatown. The move will create an integrated child care centre within the school to better serve Francophone children and families and align with the City’s mandate for municipal child care centres. The City will use provincial investments and partner with the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario to create 57 net new Francophone child care spaces, bringing the total children served at that location to 88. 

Council approved additional affordable housing

Council approved development applications that promise new affordable and below-market rental housing in Barrhaven and Overbrook. In Barrhaven, the approved zoning amendment will allow the development of 117 affordable housing units, southwest of Jockvale Road and Bending Way. Ottawa Community Housing Corporation plans to build a nine-storey, 99-unit apartment building, as well as a three-storey stacked-townhouse building with another 18 units. The project will include 28 units with at least three bedrooms to for larger families. Overall, 20 per cent of units would be accessible. 

In Overbrook, the approved Official Plan and zoning amendments allow development of a six-storey apartment building on Presland Road. The new building will have 62 apartments, with units ranging in size from studios to three-bedrooms, including some accessible units. It would be a mix of affordable and market-rate units, with 30 per cent of units being rented at 80 per cent of the average market rate.

Barrhaven Civic Complex receives a green light

Council approved buying land for a new civic complex and LRT Station in Barrhaven. The 1.7-hectare parcel of vacant land is located northwest of the future Chapman Mills Drive and Riocan Avenue. It will be purchased from the South Nepean Development Corporation for just over $10 million, in line with both an internal City appraisal and a third-party independent appraisal of the property. The City received funding for the project from the Investing In Canada Infrastructure Program.

Council updates the Terms of Reference for the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Council approved updates to the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee’s Terms of Reference to strengthen the committee’s mandate and ensure it considers all reports that affect rural areas. The Committee will generally be responsible for all matters outside the urban boundary, with Committee recommendations requiring final approval of Council. The Committee will make recommendations to Council on rural infrastructure, City purchases of rural lands and building, and matters of transportation policy related to rural Ottawa, adding to its existing role in considering specific rural transportation projects. The changes would also recognize the Committee’s role in the oversight of rural ditching and in advising the Transit Committee on rural public transit. It would also be involved in considering Official Plan amendments related to rural village boundary and urban boundary expansions.

New Medical Officer of Health (TBC)

Council also approved the Ottawa Board of Health’s recommendation to appoint Dr. Trevor Arnason as the new Medical Officer of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit. This recommendation will be sent to the Ontario Ministry of Health for confirmation.

Related topics

• Agenda