Council approved Part 1 of the update to the City’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP), endorsing policies that will guide decision-making on Ottawa’s transportation system over the next two decades.
New policies address growth and intensification, climate change, technology and new mobility, road safety and complete streets, healthy streets and communities, and affordability. The approved report also included the Active Transportation project list, as well as frameworks for prioritizing transit and road projects in the upcoming TMP Part 2.
Staff will develop a capital infrastructure plan and identify the transit and road projects needed to accommodate future travel demands across Ottawa. That work is anticipated to come before Committee and Council in 2025 as Part 2 of the TMP update.
Council received the 2023-2026 provincial Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) funding allocation. Of the additional $190.5 million annual HPP investment, the City of Ottawa was only allocated an increase of $845,100 annually, representing 0.4 per cent of the total allocation provincially. Without adequate funding, the City will not be able to meet the targeted number of new affordable/supportive housing options each year, operate new supportive housing or support innovative homelessness prevention initiatives. A detailed HPP investment plan will be presented to the Community Services Committee on May 23, 2023, and Council on May 24, for approval.
Council received a progress report on the Climate Change Master Plan – Ottawa’s framework to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and respond to the current and future effects of climate change. The City has made progress on seven of the plan’s eight priorities since October 2021, advancing many key projects and programs to reduce emissions and build climate resiliency. The report outlines strategies to help achieve the master plan vision, such as developing a climate change resource plan and advocating to senior levels of government and external partners for accelerated, urgent climate action.
The results of the GHG emissions inventory have been delayed pending a full review of the inventory process, to ensure methodologies and data sources align with best reporting practices. The inventories for 2021 and 2022 will be released after the review, later this year.
Council also received an overview of By-law and Regulatory Services activities in 2021 and 2022. The service has been heavily involved in the City’s COVID-19 response, in addition to work enforcing more than 50 municipal by-laws and provincial acts within Ottawa.
A comparative review of service requests completed in Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto and Windsor over the past five years showed that Ottawa’s by-law team completes significantly more requests per staff person each year and continues to be a provincial leader in efficiency. Staff continue to exceed expected response times for high-priority service requests, responding within 24 hours 90 per cent of the time in 2021 and 96 per cent of the time in 2022.
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