Month: April 2020

With recent warming temperatures, the spring thaw continues and is causing water levels and flows on the Ottawa River to increase from Mattawa down to the Montreal region.  Increases in flows and levels are expected to continue over the next few days and may cause minor flooding in low-lying areas.  Low-lying areas are those that are flooded regularly during the spring freshet period.

For current conditions and complete forecast goto Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board (ORRPB) or read the press release from March 29, 2020

April 6, 2020

Announcements and Events

To continue our efforts to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 virus, the City of Ottawa is extending the closure of all City-managed facilities and the suspension of in-person services until June 30, 2020.

The closures of the City-managed facilities include:

• All recreation and cultural facilities – including recreation complexes, community centres, arenas, swimming pools, theatres, and museums
• Public access to administrative buildings, including City Hall
• All City parks and amenities: ball diamonds, courts, skateboard parks, play equipment and play structures, enclosed dog-park areas, and sports fields (including those at City recreation facilities)
• Ottawa Public Library facilities – including the bookmobile
• City-managed public spaces at Lansdowne – including the parks, Aberdeen Pavilion and Horticulture building

The City will also continue to suspend in-person services, which include:

• Temporary closure of all City client service centres
• The Provincial Offences Act courthouse, located at 100 Constellation Drive, Nepean, will be closed until May 29, 2020 (to be reassessed thereafter)
• The closure of municipal child-care centres, with the exception of emergency child care for health care and frontline essential service workers
• Building Code Services counters
• Rooming house inspections
• Taxi inspections
• All hearings for the Animal Control Tribunal and the Property Standards and License Appeals Committee
• Interior noise meter readings between 7 am and 11 pm
• The Spay/Neuter Clinic at 26 Concourse Gate – clients with previously scheduled appointments will be contacted to reschedule for a later date
• The Business Licensing Centre at 735 Industrial Avenue
• All front counter services for business licenses will be suspended. Clients can call 3-1-1
• The Chief Licensing Inspector will also exercise delegated authority to extend renewal dates to be implemented for licensing categories expiring in March and April (to be reassessed thereafter)

The altering of some services will also continue:

• Complaints for unauthorized parking on private property will now require new electronic procedures for proof of authority.
• Only interior Property Standards complaints where immediate health and safety risks exist, or a vital services complaint, will be reviewed.
• Ontario Works claimants do not need to drop off any documents, including income reporting statements. Those documents can be given the case worker at a later date.
• People cannot visit the Employment and Social Services offices. They can apply by phone or online. Offices are operating on reduced hours, weekdays from 10 am to 3 pm.

Acquiring services or doing transactions online or by phone

While our counter services remain suspended, residents can acquire some services and complete payments and registrations online or by phone.

Residents can go to myservice.ottawa.ca to pay water bills and your interim property taxes. If you do not have an account, registration is simple – just sign-up with your email address. Once registered, you’ll need your account or property roll number to pay your bill.

City bills have other payment options besides the myservice.ottawa.ca accounts, which include:

• Paying by credit or debit card online at ottawa.ca
• Paying through your financial institution by creating a payee number on your institution’s mobile app or through an ATM machine
• Paying by phone with your financial institution
• Sending by mail

Residents can access many other services online as well. You do not need to come in-person to a Client Service Centre if you want to:

• Register or renew a pet registration
• Apply or renew an open air fire permit – Reminder – A city-wide burn ban has been placed by Ottawa Fire Services since April 1. All open-air fires are prohibited in the City of Ottawa until the ban is lifted.
• Pay a parking or traffic ticket
• Look up extension or reopening applications
• Apply for a Food Premise Business License
• Sign up for future recreation programs
• Load and manage a Presto Card

Council and committee meetings

Adhering to the Province’s direction of limiting any gatherings to five people or less, in-person Committee and Council meetings have been cancelled. Such meetings, as warranted, will be held electronically until further notice.

You can watch the live City Council meetings on the Ottawa City Council YouTube page (link is external). The meetings will also be broadcast live on RogersTV Cable 22 and live streamed on the RogersTV website. (link is external)

Be sure to visit ottawa.ca/covid19 or call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-9656) for complete and up-to-date information on closures, impacted services, and support and services. You can also connect with us through Facebook (link is external), Twitter (link is external) and Instagram (link is external).

The City of Ottawa thanks all residents and businesses for their patience, kindness and resilience in doing their part to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. We are a community pulling together by staying apart.

Public Inquiries

311@ottawa.ca (link sends e-mail) 311 https://ottawa.ca

Media Inquiries

medias@ottawa.ca (link sends e-mail) 613-580-2450 https://ottawa.ca