City of Ottawa to fly flag at half-mast March 11 marking lives lost to COVID-19

Flags at Ottawa City Hall are seen lowered to half-mast in this City of Ottawa image.

The City of Ottawa will be marking five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with a flag-lowering in March.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, triggering a wave of public health measures and restrictions on populations in an attempt to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

More than 1,200 residents of Ottawa have died from COVID-19 according to public health statistics.

Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh moved a motion at City Council Wednesday calling on the City of Ottawa to join the federal government in designating March 11 as a day of observance to commemorate the people who died, and the disruptions felt as a result of the pandemic.

The city will be lowering a flag to half-mast outside the Heritage Building at Ottawa City Hall that day.

“Even though it’s five years ago, I think it’s still very prominent in our memories, what has happened on that fateful day when we were told to shut down,” Kavanagh said. “We’re going to have a lowering of the flag in front of the Heritage Building to symbolize those we have lost. For many of us, there’s people who are very close to us who lost their lives during the pandemic. I think it came as a shock to all of us.”

Ottawa Public Health announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, 2020. Since then, Ottawa Public Health reported tens of thousands of cases in residents of all ages.

Kavanagh thanked Ottawa Public Health for its work during the pandemic.

“Shout out to Ottawa Public Health for all the work they did during the pandemic in unprecedented times of having to give advice on something they could not even fathom, the extent,” she said.

The latest data from Ottawa Public Health show there were 2,824 positive tests for COVID-19 in Ottawa between Sept. 25, 2024 and Feb. 9, 2025.