Vanier: Culture in Action

Vanier is a neighbourhood rich in heritage, culture and creativity. It’s also at a key moment in its history, with an opportunity to coordinate and strengthen cultural revitalization efforts under the Vanier Culture in Action banner. Expected in mid-2024, the Vanier Culture in Acton Plan follows five years of collaboration between the City of Ottawa and residents of Vanier on how best to culturally revitalize the neighbourhood. It’s rooted in Vanier’s many cultural strengths without ignoring its challenges. 

Vanier Culture in Action is an opportunity to formalize ongoing collaboration between the City of Ottawa and the Vanier community to support the neighbourhood’s cultural development and revitalization. In doing so Vanier will help provide a model for future neighbourhood-level cultural planning.  Crucially, any revitalization must benefit all who call Vanier home – those from all walks of life who live, work, play and are culturally connected to the neighbourhood. 

The 39 action items contained in the Vanier Culture in Action Plan serve as a map for the next stage of the cultural revitalization of Vanier. These action items started as 193 ideas shared and discussed by residents in community forums, focus groups and targeted engagement sessions designed to ensure that the feedback received was as representative of the community as possible. The ideas were then refined into action items and prioritized by the community-led Vanier Cultures Steering Committee and Subcommittees with the support of City staff. Shared responsibility is a key feature of this plan. In total, 8 community organizations and 17 different City of Ottawa work areas identified as having a role to play in delivering the action plan and achieving the nine revitalization-focused goals first identified in the Vanier Culture in Action Strategy shared with community in 2022.

Work in collaboration with local communities emerged as a priority during the development of the Council-approved Renewed Action Plan for Arts, Heritage, and Culture in Ottawa (2013-2018). The Renewed Action Plan championed the preservation and development of cultural and creative places and spaces (Strategy II). This was followed in 2019 through the development of the Council-approved Building Better Revitalized Neighbourhoods project. One objective of this project was to support the life and work of artists in Vanier, revitalize the heritage, cultural and creative sector and establish Vanier as a cultural and creative district. The initiative focused on revitalization through new and existing program and service initiatives, infrastructure projects as well as redevelopment. Following substantial mapping, research and analysis by the Cultural Development and Initiatives Unit, Vanier was identified as the neighbourhood in Ottawa with the greatest potential for culture to positively impact residents, socially and economically. Vanier holds complex histories, stories, heritage, socio-demographic mix, urban form, and community clusters and hubs. Additionally, Vanier residents carry a distinct composition of Indigenous, Francophone and newcomer identities, including its artists, creatives, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Combined, these demographics and indicators placed it at the forefront for neighbourhood potential. Professionals from the City of Ottawa’s Cultural Development and Initiatives Unit have facilitated development of Vanier Culture in Action, in partnership with the Vanier Community Association, community steering committee and municipal interdepartmental working group.

To develop Vanier Culture in Action, partners employed a variety of community engagement tools, including focus groups, online sessions, Citizen Forums and Community Steering Committees. 

In following a community-led approach, residents and organizations were empowered to explore and identify gaps and opportunities for cultural revitalization. This allowed for the Vanier Culture in Action Plan to benefit from the shared knowledge and experiences of those directly involved in cultural work, programming, and social services in the neighborhood. It fosters ownership of the strategy and action plan. It also brings together a group of community cultural champions as diverse as the neighborhood it represents.

1. Oversee initiatives that help organize Vanier’s cultural life.
2. Enhance cultural life on traditional main streets.
3. Enhance cultural life in public spaces and plazas.
4. Celebrate diversity and welcome newcomers through cultural programming and initiatives.
5. Revitalize Vanier’s image as a thriving cultural hub.
6. Acknowledge and collaborate with Indigenous residents and Indigenous cultural organizations in Vanier.
7. Include cultural aspects and requirements into a Vanier Secondary Plan that is consistent with the Montreal Road Secondary Plan.
8. Revitalize Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre by offering and encouraging more cultural and artistic programming.
9. Promote Muséoparc Vanier as a tourist destination.

The Draft Strategy for the Revitalization of the Cultural Life of Vanier Residents identifies several potential impacts of this kind of cultural revitalization work, grounded in extensive research on what has worked in neighbourhoods facing challenges on a similar scale to those found in Vanier including SoHo (New York, US), Saint-Roch (Quebec, Canada), M-50 Arts District (Shanghai, China) and Arts District (Los Angeles, US).

That community-led cultural development has a direct, positive impact on neighbourhood life across cities, countries and cultures provides hope that this can be successful in an Ottawa context.

The impacts of community-led cultural revitalization identified include:

• Strengthened community, social and cultural life.
• Improved self-reported resident wellbeing, sense of belonging and overall quality of life.
• Increased inter-cultural dialogue and reduction in identity-based discrimination.
• Enhanced neighbourhood reputation and sense of local pride.
• Economic development through attraction and retention of businesses and residents, job creation and talent development.
• Dismantling of organizational silos that serve as barriers to collaboration and collective impact.

Reference documents

The complete action plan

To learn more about Vanier: Culture in Action please email Cultural Developer Thomas Radford.