Committee receives Economic Development Strategy update

The Finance and Corporate Services Committee today received an Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan Implementation Update. Among the updates, the Committee heard that:

• The Province is providing the City with $18.5 million over three years as part of the Ontario-Ottawa Agreement to support its economic development objectives and downtown revitalization, with funding for downtown public realm improvements to enhance public spaces, ByWard Market Public Realm Plan streetscape renewal projects, and marketing of the downtown area to promote economic activity.
• The City is working with Bloomberg Associates to identify solutions to overcome challenges and capitalize on new opportunities to drive economic growth and prosperity.
• The City is focusing on addressing the challenges and barriers faced by main-street businesses and Indigenous, racialized and Francophone businesses through a small business needs assessment.
• The City has a tariff toolkit to help residents and businesses understand the implications of new tariffs. In March, the Conference Board of Canada indicated that Ottawa’s economy, relative to other Canadian cities, would not be overly impacted by U.S. tariffs, given the city’s economic activity is largely concentrated in services. However, impacts to the technology and construction sectors are evolving.
• City staff is working on two significant milestones: the 200th Anniversary of the founding of Bytown in 2026 and the ByWard Market in 2027.
• City staff is developing strategies to better attract, develop and retain a diverse workforce.
• City staff is developing an Economic Development dashboard that will be available in Q2 2025.

All 10 recommendations in the Nightlife Economy Action Plan are underway. As part of the inaugural Capital Music Week, the Nightlife Commissioner Office will host the "Canada After Dark" forum – a two-day event in May that will bring together national and local officials, industry leaders and subject matter experts to discuss best practices for growth and management of nightlife across Canada. The Nightlife Commissioner Office is supporting several organizations and entrepreneurs working to establish new nightlife attractions and developing a nightlife website and safety plan that will be delivered later this year. The Committee approved declaring eight properties as surplus land, and to transfer them to not-for-profit housing providers for a nominal fee. The land will be earmarked for affordable housing. The sites include 40 Beechcliffe Street, 1770 Heatherington Road, 687 Somerset Street West, 2548 Cléroux Crescent, 185 Hawthorne Avenue, land abutting 287 Loretta Avenue South, 2 Pretty Street and 261A Hinchey Avenue. Ottawa Community Housing Corporation has been selected to build the first two buildings at 1770 Heatherington Road and to manage construction of a public road, with funding from the Province’s Building Faster Fund and the City. The Committee approved the 2025 Tax Policy and Other Revenue Matters report that presents property tax classes, tax ratios and by-laws affecting property taxes or other revenues that determine the tax burden on the various property tax classes. The recommendations support renters, businesses, farms and Ottawa’s local economic development. Highlights include:

• Elimination of the parking lot and commercial vacant land tax classes to incentivize development and encourage transit ridership and support Council’s goal of a greener city.
• 58,500 tenants in multi-unit apartment buildings receiving an automatic rent reduction of approximately 1 per cent in 2026.
• Small businesses continuing to pay 15 per cent less in taxes than regular commercial properties, with 6,000 properties or 10,000 businesses benefitting from up to $18.5 million in tax savings.
• Industrial businesses (manufacturing and production sectors most impacted by tariffs) benefitting from an 8.1 per cent decrease in municipal taxes.
• Continuation of the City’s tax deferral programs for low-income seniors and people with disabilities, as well as the Charitable Rebate Program, the Farm Grant Program and various tax reductions for subclasses.

A new by-law was approved to set tax relief parameters to support residents with damaged properties, that are either substantially unusable or undergoing repairs and renovations which prevent normal use for a period of at least three months. The Committee received the Disposition of 2024 Tax and Rate Supported Operating Surplus/Deficit. City-Wide Tax-Supported services ended the year with a $55.7 million surplus and Rate Supported services ended the year with a $6.2 million surplus. The surplus is primarily a result of investment income revenues. Transit Services finished 2024 with a $21.7 million deficit, which will be funded from the Tax Stabilization Reserve. As a result, a total of $32.7 million in 2024 operating surplus will be transferred to the Tax Stabilization Reserve. The Committee also received the French Language Services 2024 Annual Report. French Language Services continues to work with departments to create annual French-language operational plans to improve services provided in French and help create a culture of bilingualism in the City. Last year, French Language Services received 33 complaints regarding the quality and provision of French-language services, a decrease from the 47 complaints received in 2023 and below the five-year average of 38 complaints per year. These items will rise to Council on Wednesday, April 16. Related topics

• Agenda