A New Provincial Deal for the City of Ottawa

The City of Ottawa will receive an extra 543 million dollars to assist with revitalize the downtown area, to support public safety and address increased levels of crime, which have had an impact on city services and additional funding for emergency shelters.

The Government of Ontario and the City of Ottawa have reached a new deal that recognizes and invests in the city’s unique needs as Canada’s national capital and eastern Ontario’s economic hub, helping ensure the city’s sustainable, long-term growth and prosperity. The agreement includes a phased plan to guide the upload of Ottawa Road 174 to the province, provincial support for the repair and upgrade of the city’s major connecting routes and rural roads, designing and building a new interchange at Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road, and improving public safety by opening a new police neighbourhood operations centre in the ByWard Market area.

“This historic new deal reflects our government’s dedication to the economic success of Ottawa and all of eastern Ontario,” said Premier Doug Ford. “I want to thank Mayor Sutcliffe for working with us to reach an agreement that will help Ottawa continue rebuilding its economy and deliver on key priorities, including building homes and highways. Now it’s up to the federal government to step up with support for our national capital, particularly when it comes to funding infrastructure and supporting shelters and asylum claimants.”

Ontario and Ottawa are calling on the federal government to step up with support that recognizes its responsibility to the national capital and helps restore public transit ridership while revitalizing Ottawa’s downtown economy.

“This is a big win for Ottawa,” said Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. “These investments will relieve significant budget pressures for the city and will help us to deliver better services to our residents. It’s also an example of what happens when elected officials do what the voters expect them to do: work together to solve problems and build better, safer, more affordable communities. I want to thank Premier Ford and Minister Bethlenfalvy for being great partners and for understanding the unique challenges that Ottawa faces.”

In recognition of the unique economic and social challenges faced by the City of Ottawa, which has had a slower rebound from the effects of the pandemic and is an economic and social service hub for people across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, Ontario is providing up to $543 million in operating and capital funding tailored to fuelling Ottawa’s economic recovery and accelerating revitalization of the downtown core. Funding will further support upgrading and building essential road and highway infrastructure to support the local economy and drivers across Ottawa’s large suburban and rural footprint.

The agreement includes up to $197 million over three years in provincial operating supports and up to $346 million over 10 years in provincial capital supports, including:

• Maintenance and rehabilitation for Ottawa Road 174 while a three-stage phased assessment of potential provincial ownership of the road is underway.
• Funding to help revitalize the downtown area, with dedicated funding to Invest Ottawa.
• Funding to support public safety and address increased levels of crime, which have had an impact on city services.
• Additional conditional funding for emergency shelters and homelessness prevention to address the needs of increasing levels of homelessness.
• The repair and upgrade of major connecting routes and roads critical to keeping the people, goods and services of Ottawa moving.
• Advancing design and construction of a new interchange at Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road to support population growth and development.
• Funding for the Kanata North Transitway to support economic growth and recovery.
• Support for housing- and community-enabling infrastructure through the Building Faster Fund, conditional on the city achieving at least 80 per cent of its housing targets.