Utilities approvals

Municipal Consent (MC) is provided by the City for a utility or applicant to occupy a specific location within the municipal Right-of-Way (ROW).  MCs are only issued to utility companies, commissions, agencies, and private applicants who have the authority to construct, operate and maintain their plant within the ROW.  This is established through legislation (Act), Agreement, or prior approval.  An MC gives an agency permission to install or move facilities and is required when a ROW needs to be excavated.

This is achieved by circulating drawing submission packages to other occupants of the ROW, (and other stakeholders as required), for comments and conditions that may be applicable to a given MC.

Works must comply with the Road Activity By-law, as amended.  City standards and specifications must also be followed.  The City of Ottawa’s Standard Tender Documents for Unit Price Contracts, as well as other standards and guidelines, are available free of charge by contacting standardssection@ottawa.ca. Questions and comments may also be directed to that mailbox.

For work that is planned on City owned lands that are not ROW, please contact leasing-location@ottawa.ca.

For questions concerning potential contamination within the City’s ROW please send inquiries to eru-uae@ottawa.ca.

For Road Cut Permits, please see Road cuts.

For Temporary Construction Encroachment Permits, please see TCEs.

Beginning January 1, 2024, Municipal Consent permits will be valid for one (1) year following issuance. If required, an MC extension may be granted for thirty (30) days at the sole discretion of the City.  MC extensions must be requested while the MC is valid, otherwise, a new MC must be applied for.  Only one extension may be provided.

Once the application submission is received by City staff, it will be reviewed for completeness, and that all information required per the submission guidelines is included and correct.  The applicant will be advised either that more information is required, or that the submission is being sent out for circulation to the City’s review partners.  For a complete submission, this step should take 5 business days.

When the circulation is out for comment with external reviewers, the timing for responses is out of the City’s control.  Each reviewing agency has their own methods and procedures for review.  A typical review may take 3-5 weeks.  Depending on the complexity of the application, some reviews may take longer.

A Municipal Consent circulation is deemed complete when all responses have been received, and all objections have been resolved.  Once this occurs, City staff will prepare the Municipal Consent Permit, including all comments and conditions from internal city groups, and external agencies.  Comments and conditions placed by external agencies are not monitored or enforced by the City.  It is the responsibility of commentor and applicant to work together.

Once the circulation is complete, the MC Permit is targeted to be provided within 5 business days.

**Submissions failing to meet these requirements may be returned to the proponent at the sole discretion of the City.**

Circulation requirements

All packages must include a cover letter describing:

• Comprehensive description of all work. Include length of installation and dimensions of any and all appurtenances, above or below grade;
• Street locations and/or Municipal Address;
• The utility project manager, or designated City staff leading the project*;
• Clearly indicate if this is a preliminary or final circulation for City projects and, if applicable, for other utility projects;
• Anticipated construction dates; and
• Any known utility relocations, and any other information relevant to this aspect of the project anticipated construction dates.

*Note‐ For shoring and tieback submissions, both the City PM information and the Building Code Services contact information is required.

Main Drawing requirements

• The Central Registry shall be used for all base plans where available. The Central Registry can be reached at GeoInformation@ottawa.ca or by calling 613‐580‐2424 x44455. It remains the responsibility of the proponent to verify the accuracy of site conditions.
• All utility plant / appurtenances within the road allowance must be shown when available per the Central Registry (CR) information. If no Central Registry information is available then a drawing must show proposed utility with ties to property line, centerline of ditch, edge of gravel or asphalt and any above grade infrastructure in the vicinity.
• Offsets must be shown for any utility within 2m of the proposed work, or on the same side of the ROW.
• Plant location must be tied to a property line, curb or a permanent structure.
• Proposed plant must be clearly identified and distinguishable from existing shown plant.
• Depth of proposed plant and duct configuration must be shown in section or profile.
• A key plan with cross streets and north arrow, must be included with the proposed work.
• Include street names and building addresses near the proposed work. If a municipal address is not available, provide dimensions from the location of the work to the nearest intersection of street lines.
• Display all property lines clearly.
• Illustrate and clearly label street lines, road pavement, sidewalks, driveways, boulevards ditch lines and curbs. Identify street furniture including vaults, transformers, pedestals, regulators, hydrants, poles, tree pits, trees, planters, etc.
• Provide a cross-section view of proposed plant below grade and clearly show typical depth of cover.
• A drawing legend.
• Drawings must be to scale. Scale shall be clearly indicated (typically 1:250 or 1:500). A bar scale must also be included.
• Shoring drawings shall include shoring installation details (eg, tiebacks) in plan and profile if entering the Public ROW above or below grade. Existing utilities in proximity to proposed shoring must also be clearly indicated in plan and profile.

Rural submissions

These requirements are supplemental to the main Municipal Consent requirements.  For the purposes of these requirements, they would apply outside of Ottawa’s Urban Boundary.

Each submission must be drawn some sort of software capable of drawing straight lines- freehand sketches are not accepted.

Each drawing submission must include a proper cover letter with full description of the work and location listed.  This must include contact information of the submitter, or person responsible for the project.

A general time frame of when the work is expected to be started and completed is also required.

The drawing/ sketch should include the following general information:

• Legend
• North Arrow
• Key plan
• Street names, property and building numbers
• Lot, Concession and Township if in the rural areas
• Property lines
• Civic address (Distance to cross streets if civic address in not available or relevant)
• Easily identifiable linework for proposed installation.  E.g., different colour/line style/weight
•  All linework on these submissions must be labelled/identified, e.g., centreline of ditch, edge of gravel, edge of pavement, fence line, etc. 

If current CAD base plan or survey is not available, the following is a minimum that must be shown on other formats (such as Google maps or similar).  This may be an overlay of an aerial photograph:

• Ditch line 
• Driveways
• Edge of roadway pavement/gravel or curbs
• Guide rail or cable
• Fencing
• Mature trees/dripline
• Any above grade installations (poles, pedestals etc.)
• Existing underground infrastructure

The proposed plant must include the following as a minimum:

• Location of the proposed installation with reference ties to the existing listed above.
• Cross section or detail showing depth and make-up of the install.

It must be possible to zoom in on the plan/pdf and maintain a legible resolution.

An additional hard copy set of drawings may be requested for certain projects, and shall be submitted in one or both of the following formats:

• One full scale (24” x 36”) and/ or half sized scale (11” x 17”) sized set of plans. All hard copy circulation packages, when required, should be sent to the attention of:

Right of Way Branch
100 Constellation Drive
6th Floor East Ottawa Ontario, K2G 6J8
Internal mail code 26‐61

The City of Ottawa geoOttawa map tool contains information about the City’s road network, including road classifications and the age of road pavement. This tool can also be used to determine who the Ward Councillor is in any given area, as well as the Right-of-Way in any given area.  To access and view information on geoOttawa, use the following link: geoOttawa. Once the application is running,  type the name of the street you want to view, or navigate to it using the map.

Geospatial Analytics, Technology and Solutions (GATS) is responsible for 2D mapping of all above and underground Municipal and Utility agency services within the right of way in coordination with the Ottawa Utility Coordinating Committee (Ottawa UCC).  Further information can be found online.

For assistance, contact the GATS - GeoInformation Centre by email GeoInformation@ottawa.ca.

Exemption Guidelines are an approach to allow certain utility works to be exempt from MC circulation in order to expedite these works and to reduce the City’s administration requirements and costs. There are 3 categories of exemptions, which range from complete exemption (ie, no MC required) to a full circulation.  Conditions for exemptions vary through Core, Urban and Rural areas of Ottawa.

The Clearance Matrix is a document that outlines minimum clearances each utility or plant owner requires.  It is understood that minimum clearances cannot always be met.  For city infrastructure, an explanation of why minimum clearances cannot be met will help the application move along more quickly.

Clearances provided by external agencies are provided by each plant owner.  The city will not enforce clearances of third parties.  The accuracy of information and enforcement is the responsibility of the respective plant owner.

The latest versions of the Exemption Guidelines and Clearance Matrix is available by request at Utilitycirculations@ottawa.ca.

Shoring systems installed within the City’s Right-of-way require Municipal Consent.  Shoring applications typically require more time.  Proponents are advised to apply for Municipal Consent as soon as they are able.

Applying for Municipal Consent for shoring systems follows the same process as other applications as outlined on these pages.

All applications must be submitted via the online application form below.  Supporting documentation for an application must be combined into one ZIP file and be less than 20MB. If your ZIP is greater than 20MB, a link to ftp will be provided upon application receipt.  Submissions must meet the City’s Circulation requirements, or they may be returned.

For any questions related to the online application form and circulation requirements, please contact Utilitycirculations@ottawa.ca.

Apply