Protocols

All media releases and queries are managed by the Public Information and Media Relations department. See our newsroom for an archive of our media releases, advisories and public service announcements related to:

• newsworthy events involving the City;
• City initiatives and program; and
• notifications that affect residents

Availability

The City will respond to media queries during Media Relations operating hours: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All media queries are to be directed to City of Ottawa Media Relations:

Phone: 613-580-2450
E-mail: medias@ottawa.ca

After Hours Requests

The City only extends after-hours service to media queries of an urgent, operational nature. Other queries will be logged and addressed during regular business hours.

Responses

Please note media requests from accredited media (representatives of a recognized media organization) are given priority.

Media requests by non-accredited media and students will be logged and dealt with in sequence. Please note that while Media Relations will make every effort to accommodate non-accredited requests, delays in responding may occur.

Stakeholders, community groups and residents who contact the Media Relations Office to request information will be re-directed to ServiceOttawa’s 3-1-1.

Social Media Protocol

The City of Ottawa is present on the following social media networks: X (formerly Twitter), Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. The content on these accounts is also available in French.

If you follow us, you can expect content on:

• Newsworthy events involving the City
• City initiatives and programs
• Notifications that affect residents

Availability

The City updates and monitors its social media accounts during regular business hours. Comments and tweets from users outside of these times will be reviewed at the beginning of the next business day.

Follows and likes

The City may follow and like social media accounts from its partners or stakeholders. Please note that being followed or liked by the City does not imply endorsement of any kind.

Retweets and shares

The City occasionally retweets and shares content that it deems of value to its audience. Retweeting and sharing by the City should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the originator or of any organization mentioned in the message. Users are encouraged to tag the City of Ottawa and submit or post content, including photos and videos, on our social media channels for consideration. Users may only post their own Content post is their own original work.

Comments and replies

The City welcomes feedback and ideas from its followers and fans. All comments and replies will be moderated by City of Ottawa staff, who reserves the right to hide or remove any content. Any emerging themes or helpful suggestions will be passed to the relevant people in the organization. 

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please remember to not include any personal information, including addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses in your comments or replies.

Unfortunately, the City is not able to reply individually to all messages it receives via its social media networks.

To ensure that the conversation remains in good taste and a positive experience for everyone involved, comments and replies should be clean and respectful, in addition to being relevant and related to the posted topic on the City's social media account.

Any comments of the following nature may be deleted:

• Offensive, profane, hateful, insulting, rude, abusive, aggressive, violent, obscene, explicit, pornographic or sexual comments
• Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, age, creed, gender, marital status, socio-economic status, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation
• Personal attacks and/or defamatory statements
• Serious, unproven, unsupported, or inaccurate accusations
• Messages involving solicitations, advertising or endorsements for marketing purposes 
• Messages that conduct or encourage illegal activity
• Information that could compromise public safety, security or operations or comments that contain personal information 
• Messages that impersonate or misrepresent someone else
• Comments containing spam, external links or posted by anonymous or robot accounts 
• Off topic or misleading content, including unintelligible messages 
• Repetitive content by single or multiple users 

If repeated posts, comments or private/direct messages of this nature are made by an individual or group, the City will permanently or temporarily block or mute the accounts involved.  

To ensure a respectful dialogue and provide a safe, positive experience for everyone, we may also proactively disable comments on certain posts when necessary. 

The City of Ottawa’s images and official marks are trademark protected pursuant to section 9(1)(n) (iii) of the Federal Trade-marks Act and cannot be produced without the prior written consent of the City of Ottawa. 

The City of Ottawa will only permit use of its corporate logos if an organization meets one of the following criteria: 

• You are a department, board, task force or committee of the Corporation of the City of Ottawa.
• Your organization, program or event currently receives monetary support from the Corporation of the City of Ottawa and is seeking permission to use the City’s logo to recognize the City’s support.
• Your organization, program or event currently receives in kind support from the Corporation of the City of Ottawa and is seeking permission to use the City’s logo to recognize the City’s support.
• Your organization is a sponsor for a City of Ottawa program or event and has entered into a sponsorship arrangement and is seeking permission to use the City’s logo in association with your sponsorship.

If you do not qualify within one of these categories, the City is unable to grant you permission to use the corporate City of Ottawa and/or “O” trademarked logo or any other official marks of the City of Ottawa. 

For more information on the City of Ottawa’s Visual Identity Program please call 3-1-1.

The City of Ottawa has several digital and analog promotional resources at its disposal at City Hall and other facilities for public service announcements and/or event promotion. The City of Ottawa may, at its discretion, allow third party announcements on these City owned resources for the purpose of promotional messaging (event or otherwise) for benefit of the City of Ottawa and/or its residents.

The City of Ottawa will not allow announcements that:

• Convey a negative religious message that might be deemed prejudicial to religious groups
• Promote alcohol and other addictive substances, at venues geared primarily to children
• Present demeaning or derogatory portrayals of individuals or groups or contain anything, which, considering generally prevailing community standards, is likely to cause deep or widespread offence

For more information on please call 3-1-1