Ottawa’s St. Patrick’s Day parade cancelled this year

Ottawa's St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday March 16, 2019

There will be no St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ottawa for a sixth straight year, as organizers face higher costs to put on the event and delays in obtaining a parade permit.

In a post on Facebook, the Irish Society of the National Capital Region says due to a delay in issuing a permit for the parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade set for March 15 has been cancelled.

“I regret that I must inform you that after three months of discussions, a flurry of emails and numerous zoom meetings, we still do not have a permit in place to hold a parade from the City of Ottawa for our March 15, 2025 date,” Tom O’Neill, president of the Irish Society of the National Capital Region, said in the letter.

“I am now forced to make a call which I thought wouldn’t be necessary and impossible but since COVID-19 and the trucker convoy, the City of Ottawa and the Government of Ontario have instituted newer regulations.”

The letter goes on to say, “These new regulations have a greater police presence as well as traffic studies, signage and hardware need whose costs have all been downloaded onto the permit holder in User Fees. The sum of $35,000 makes it extremely difficult for us to use the proposed route down Elgin Street.”

O’Neill says due to the delay in issuing the permit, the board believes it will “not have sufficient time” to make the parade a success by March 15, and the Irish Society will be “rescheduling the event to a later date in the year.”

O’Neill tells CTV News Ottawa policing costs for a parade down Elgin Street would be $26,000, plus another $5,000 to $10,000 to cover barricades and other costs.

“Before we put one band on the street, we’re at $25,000-$35,000,” O’Neill said Monday afternoon.

“We worked hard to raise the money. We still have to put the floats; we also have to bring in bands and groups to fatten up the parade and that’s a huge amount. In the old days, it was free.”

O’Neill says the Irish Society of the National Capital Region doesn’t make money off the parade.

“We’re just promoting our culture; we’re telling you it’s the end of winter, the beginning of spring – the Irish Spring is here and we’re saluting our ancestors who dug this ditch – the Rideau Canal,” O’Neill said.

The City of Ottawa says the organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade withdrew their application for a permit.

“The City is committed to working with event organizers to support special events across Ottawa and makes every effort to support permit applications. In 2024, the City issued 186 special event permits under the Special Events on Public and Private Property (By-law No. 2013-232),” the city said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa Monday afternoon.

“The application for a permit to hold a St. Patrick’s Day Parade under the Special Events on Public and Private Property (By-law No. 2013-232) was withdrawn by the applicant.”

The 2025 St. Patrick’s Day Parade was scheduled for March 15, honouring the 200th anniversary of Thomas D’Arcy McGee.

The last St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ottawa was 2019. The parade was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the 2023 parade was cancelled due to a lack of volunteers and funding.

Last year, the Irish Society said the parade was cancelled after organizers did not receive a parade permit from the city.

The Irish Society of the National Capital Region is looking ahead to next year’s parade.

“In 2026, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will refocus, rebuild and work to strength its community ties as it becomes an integral part of the 200th anniversary of the foundation of Bytown,” O’Neill said. “In this milestone year, the parade will celebrate the vibrant Irish heritage that continues to shape Ottawa’s cultural landscape, while embracing a renewed vision of unity and resilience.”

O’Neill says Ottawa’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is “not dead forever.”

“We’re going to have to hammer it out; we’re going to have to raise a lot more money; we’re going to have a lot stronger negotiations with City Hall,” O’Neill said, noting all festivals and community groups are facing the same challenges.

“This is a city that fun has forgotten.”