Kate Yurkovich
Associate
Guide
Published09 November 2020
COVID-19: Municipal measures - The City of Ottawa
24
minute read
Municipal measures - The City of Ottawa
| Creation of the Economic Partners Task Force | |
| DESCRIPTION | The Mayor of Ottawa has created the Economic Partners Task Force composed of leaders of the business community. The task force will advise city staff on how the city can help the business community as the pandemic evolves. |
| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's Economic Support and Recovery page here. |
| Municipal Tax Measures | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa has offered a penalty free payment grace period on all 2020 interim property tax bills for all property owners until April 15, 2020. The City of Ottawa has also offered a Property Tax Hardship Deferral Program of residential and small business property owners with an assessed property value of up to $7.5 million that have been financially affected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program extends the interim property tax and final property tax deadlines to October 30, 2020. |
| ACCESS AND ELIGIBILITY | In order to qualify for the Property Tax Hardship Deferral Program, a property owner must apply before July 31, 2020 and must meet the following criteria:
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| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's webpage on COVID-19 Property Tax Relief here. |
| Suspension on Water Service Disconnections | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa has suspended all water service disconnections due to non-payment until further notice. |
| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's Economic Support and Recovery webpage here. |
| Water Bill Grace Period | |
| DESCRIPTION | Revenue Services is extending an interest free 30-day payment grace period for all unpaid bills issued before April 1, 2020 and a 30-day due date extension, for all water bills issued between April 1, 2020 and October 30, 2020, providing residents with 47 days to pay their bill. |
| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's COVID-19 Water Bill Relief webpage here |
| Corporate Accounts Receivable Invoices Grace Period | |
| DESCRIPTION | Revenue Services is extending an interest free 30-day grace period for all unpaid Corporate Accounts Receivable Invoices issued before April 1, 2020 and a 30-day due date extension for all Corporate Accounts Receivable invoices issued between April 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020. |
| LINKS | |
| Property Tax and Water Utility Deferral Programs to assist Low-Income Seniors and Persons with Disabilities | |
| DESCRIPTION | Property Tax Deferral Program: The City of Ottawa offers two deferral programs for property taxes for low-income seniors and low-income people with disabilities.
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| LINKS | The City of Ottawa's Property Tax and Water Utility Deferral Programs webpage outlines the specific eligibility requirements, terms and relief available under each program. |
| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's Property Tax and Water Utility Deferral Programs webpage here |
| The Farm Grant Program | |
| DESCRIPTION | Ottawa City Council approved a Farm Grant Program to provide financial relief to working farmers. The grant program will assist eligible farm property owners by allowing the June final tax instalment to be paid in December. |
| ACCESS AND ELIGIBILITY | To qualify for the grant, the following conditions must be met:
The City of Ottawa directs inquires to Revenue Services by phone at 613-580-2444. |
| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's webpage on the Farm Grant Program here. |
| Suspension of Enforcement of Overtime Parking on Residential Streets | |
| DESCRIPTION | All overtime parking, signed or unsigned, will no longer be enforced on residential streets until further notice. This is to encourage and support residents to stay at home to further prevent the spread of COVID-19. All other parking restrictions remain in effect, such as No Stopping, No Parking, Fire Route, Accessible Parking, Hydrants, Sidewalks to maintain emergency access and traffic flow. |
| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's Economic Support and Recovery webpage here. |
| Suspension on Particular Building Inspections | |
| DESCRIPTION | Ottawa Building Code Services will not enter occupied areas of the following building types until further notice:
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| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's Economic Support and Recovery webpage here. |
| License Renewal Periods | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa has extended the renewal period for a number of business licenses until June 30, 2020. |
| ACCESS AND ELIGIBILITY | The following business licenses are eligible for the extension:
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| LINKS | See the City of Ottawa's Economic Support and Recovery webpage here. |
| Corporate Real Estate | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa will provide rental adjustments for any businesses that rent space within a City facility that has closed in response to COVID-19. The adjustment will reflect the amount of time these facilities remained open. |
| Support for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa is supporting residents experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless through emergency shelters, support services, and outreach. Households and landlords will get housing allowances and rent supplements one week early to assist with cash flow. There will be no evictions from social housing during this time. Ottawa Inner City Health is visiting shelters with a mobile assessment van and has a nurse on call during evenings and weekends. On March 23, 2020, the Routhier Community Centre was converted to a temporary isolation centre for single homeless people that need to self-isolate. On April 24, the shower and washroom facilities at McNabb Arena (180 Percy Street) opened for use to people experiencing homelessness or people who are precariously housed. On May 2, the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre opened as a temporary physical distancing shelter for single men. The Centre offers sleeping facilities, dining space, bathrooms, showers and access to computers for up to 140 men, to help alleviate overcrowding in Ottawa's emergency shelter system. Ottawa's Human Needs Task Force is offering much-needed support to Ottawa's most vulnerable. |
| Human Needs Task Force | |
| DESCRIPTION | A Human Needs Task Force has been implemented as part of the City's Emergency Management Plan and emergency response to COVID-19. The task force is focused on service coordination for immediate, medium and long-term response associated with five emerging needs: (1) outreach to isolated seniors; (2) food security; (3) transportation; (4) volunteer coordination; (5) housing and homeless needs |
| Social Services Relief Fund and $11.4M investment in COVID-19-related social services | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa is inviting funding applications from established, local non-profit agencies that are currently open and providing essential services to clients and can have the biggest impact through the following:
This COVID-19-related funding is combined from two sources:
The Social Services Relief Fund funding process will allocate up to $3M. The City will use the rest of the $11.4M for the following:
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| ACCESS & ELIGIBILITY | Funding is available to help agencies meet extraordinary COVID-19-related expenses. For a detailed list of funding eligibility requirements and a list of "eligible" versus "ineligible" costs, see pages 5 through 7 of the COVID-19 Social Services Relief Fund Terms of Reference. There are two funding categories:
For category 2 , "Essential Supports and Services" is defined as: food security, service coordination to meet extraordinary needs, and direct services for isolated seniors and other at-risk residents and equity seeking communities. "At-risk resident and equity seeking communities" are defined as: Indigenous people (Métis, First Nations, and Inuit), and other equity-seeking communities such as people who are homeless or at risk of housing loss, low-income households, 2SGLBTQ+ households, seniors, women (including those fleeing violence), youth, people living with disabilities, immigrants/newcomers, and rural residents. Timelines:
The City's goal is to disburse funding to its partners in early May. |
| Innovation Pilot Program | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa's Innovation Pilot Program (IPP), managed by Economic Development Services, is shifting its focus towards COVID-19 economic recovery efforts. The Recovery Stream provides companies the opportunity to test and quickly deploy their technology innovations in real-life testing environment with the City or one of its economic development partners. The IPP is seeking proposals for technology innovations that will accelerate Ottawa's ability to get the workforce back to work and safely resume business operations. Areas of focus include technology innovations for public health and economic recovery. Priority sectors include health, tourism, festivals and events, restaurants, retail, construction, transportation and food supply. See here for an overview of the IPP Recovery Stream process. |
| ACCESS & ELIGIBILITY | Proposal deadline was Wednesday, May 20, 2020, 4:00 p.m. The call for pilot proposals is now closed. Applicants must meet certain criteria to be eligible for the program:
For restrictions on funding, see here:
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| LINKS | Innovation Pilot Program Application Form has now closed. |
| Impacted City facilities and services | |
| DESCRIPTION | See the City of Ottawa's list of impacted City facilities and services to stay up-to-date. See here for an overview of the IPP Recovery Stream process. |
| Business Reopening Toolkit | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City has developed a business reopening toolkit, in consultation with Ottawa Public Health, to help businesses answer critical questions before they can reopen safely. The toolkit provides guidance on preparing your workplace, employees and operations to resume while ensuring physical distancing and also provides links to official resources such as public health signage, sector-specific guidelines and government financial assistance programs. |
| LINKS |
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| Buy Local | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City is encouraging the community to support the local business community by buying locally. |
| LINKS | |
| Summer Camp Programs | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City cancelled its originally-planned summer camp programs, scheduled to run from June 29 to August 28. The City introduced a modified summer camp program that is reformatted around COVID-19 public health measures. |
| ACCESS & ELIGIBILITY | To see details on the new program, view the City's Camp Summer Fun Recreation eGuide at Ottawa.ca/SummerCamps. |
| LINKS | |
| OC Transpo COVID-19 Transit Service Recovery Plan | |
| DESCRIPTION | Transit Commission has approved OC Transpo's Transit Service Recovery Plan, which is an integral part of the City of Ottawa's roadmap for the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, OC Transpo service was modified to reflect lower than usual ridership levels and to ensure an availability of resources in case of widespread illness. OC Transpo's recovery plan will accommodate the increase in ridership and will be adjusted through a multi-phased approach. Health and safety measures will be in place prior to the increase in ridership. The plan will be adjusted as Ottawa Public Health recommendations change and as the COVID-19 situation evolves. |
| LINKS | |
| Guidelines for opening restaurants | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa has provided its guidelines for reopening restaurants. Part 1 provides City of Ottawa advice for preparing food service, and Part 2 provides guidance on preparing and modifying restaurants in order to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. This guidance is not intended to supersede the restrictions in place by the Government of Ontario. |
| LINKS | |
| City introduces mandatory mask by-law | |
| DESCRIPTION | The City of Ottawa has implemented a by-law of temporary application mandating face masks in certain enclosed public spaces. |
| ACCESS & ELIGIBILITY | The City of Ottawa is providing regularly updated guidance about face masks for business owners and operators here. City of Ottawa guidance includes a letter of instruction for operators from the Medical Officer of Health, sample signage for businesses, and a sample mandatory mask policy for businesses. |
| LINKS | See up-to-date information from the City of Ottawa about masks here |
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