Ottawa police working on ‘downtown core safety plan’ to address hot spots

Rideau Street cordoned off and closed to traffic while police investigate a stabbing outside the Rideau Centre on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (Scott Rook/CTV News Ottawa)

The Ottawa Police Service will unveil a “downtown core safety plan” this spring to address hot spots in the core, including in the Rideau Centre area.

Chief Eric Stubbs told reporters the service is developing a “comprehensive downtown core safety plan,” which will focus on areas “experiencing some issues right now,” including the Rideau Street and ByWard Market area, Bank Street, Centretown and Chinatown.

“There’s certainly a combination of a number of different factors that we’ll be including in terms of presence along, plus enforcement, plus working with some partner agencies,” Stubbs said.

“We’re very specific in what we do and where we do it in terms of hot spots, which that Rideau area is.”

Stubbs made the comments when asked about the stabbing death of a 58-year-old man outside the Rideau Centre on Feb. 19.

Police said officers responded to a call for a stabbing on Rideau Street. A 70-year-old man is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the case.

Stubbs described the incident as a “personal conflict between two people.”

“It’s difficult to manage those types of incidents for the police outside of having a presence in particular locations,” Stubbs said.

It was the second stabbing on Rideau Street in Ottawa last week.

Stubbs told reporters police are aware there are “some issues in the general geographic area” around the Rideau Centre.

“We work quite closely with the Rideau Centre and their management team,” Stubbs said.

“We met with them, talked about what we’re doing together and what we want to do in the future. Certainly, our Neighbourhood Resource Team knows that is a bit of a hotspot area and it’s a focus to have some presence there.”

Stubbs said some of the issues police are working with Rideau Centre management team to address are retail theft and loitering inside the mall.

Four homicides in Ottawa in 2026

Stubbs says there are no connections to the four homicides in Ottawa this year.

“Every single one of those is independent of each other,” Stubbs said.

“We have made arrests in every homicide as well too in 2026. I credit the homicide team for a lot of great work.”

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