Leaders gather to reimagine Ottawa’s downtown core

With the economy facing uncertainty, Ottawa’s biggest thinkers are aiming to reshape the future of the nation’s capital. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.

With the economy in flux and hybrid work reshaping office life, some of Ottawa’s top leaders gathered Wednesday to focus on the future and to explore opportunities.

The 2025 City Building Summit brought together business leaders, policymakers and developers with a focus on growing a vibrant downtown core.

“To have a strong and resilient economy for Ottawa. We need to look at how do we diversify and grow that economy by bringing in new sectors and new investment,” said Debbie Stewart, general manger of strategic initiatives with the City of Ottawa.

Once the centre of federal office life, downtown Ottawa is grappling with vacant office buildings, reduced foot traffic and major retail closures. Most recently, Hudson Bay’s downtown location announced it would be closing its doors.

“I think there’s a real imaginative moment,” said Mary Rowe, president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. “I’d like to think governments will support that because maybe they should be co-working spaces or maker spaces but the idea is, remember they were destinations.”

The city is launching a new task force to accelerate housing and affordability by reducing red tape to get shovels in the ground faster. But industry leaders say if you want people to come downtown, you also need attractions and amenities.

“They kind of go hand in hand and the amount of ancillary elements that happen act as that catalyst to really make it feel like investing and living downtown really now has a lifestyle that I can buy into,” said CEO of Windmill Development Group, Jonathan Westeinde.

A new dock pilot project at Dow’s Lake and a new music venue with a capacity of 2,000 people on Rideau Street are among the projects that give many experts hope.

“Ottawa has been a world class music city for a long time and now these new companies and venues that we’re witnessing are a result of the incredible hard work that’s happened,” said Erin Benjamin, president of the Canadian Live Music Association.

As the city faces challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s optimism the downtown core can become a place where businesses, residents and tourists can not only gather, but feel safe.

The Ottawa Police Service launched its CORE strategy last summer, targeting eight high-crime areas in the ByWard Market and Rideau Street. Police announced last year they would be bringing in a new mounted police unit to aid in missing persons investigations and protests.

“The operational pace that our team is under is very high. We’re the capital of Canada we have a lot of events. A lot of protests in this community so it’s really needed,” said police chief Eric Stubbs, talking about the new mounted unit.