Ottawa – The move to Shutdown status across the province will temporarily close City-managed recreation and cultural facilities for most indoor activities, limit the capacity at outdoor recreation amenities and suspend in-person City counter services. Shutdown comes into effect on Saturday, April 3 at 12:01 am.
The temporary closures will not impact the operations for respite centres, vaccination clinics, COVID-19 assessment centres, municipal childcare centres, Before-and-After School Programs and inclusive recreation programs.
Recreation and culture
Recreation and cultural facilities will close or remain closed to the public – including recreation complexes, community centres, arenas, swimming pools, theatres, museums and art galleries.
The following recreation and cultural programs will temporarily suspend operations:
- All reserved recreation activities – including indoor skating, swimming (public and lane swims), cardio-weight rooms, sports activities – team play and practices, and indoor fitness classes
- Any aquatic program scheduled to begin in April
- Select cultural programs that operated by reservation only at Nepean Visual Arts Centre and Shenkman Arts Centre
Start of Spring Learn to Swim and Certification aquatic programs delayed
Aquatic programs scheduled to begin in April will be delayed until Ottawa transitions to a lower restriction level. Registered clients will be contacted by City staff and provided program amendment information.
Restrictions in parks and outdoor sports facilities
No team or group recreation, sports play, scrimmage or training are permitted. Most outdoor park amenities are open and the reduced gathering limit of five people and physical distancing must be followed.
Outdoor refrigerated rinks and Terry Fox Athletic Facility will remain closed until further notice. In line with typical seasonal opening dates, ball diamonds will remain closed until May 1, and sports fields will remain closed until May 15. Permits for synthetic turf fields are suspended until further notice.
Virtual recreation and cultural programs
Residents can still sign up for many virtual recreation and arts offerings from arts, fitness, music and culinary courses. Visit ottawa.ca/virtualprograms for the list of available courses and registration.
For more information visit ottawa.ca/recreation and note that updates with further details will follow in the coming days.
Counter services and other in-person service suspended or altered
The City will temporarily suspend in-person services effective Tuesday, April 5, including:
- City Hall and Ben Franklin Place (101 Centrepointe Drive) Client Service Centres and Building Code Services counters. Client Services Centres will suspend our current in-person counter services which will move to online delivery. Building Code Services will continue to provide courier, curbside, email and telephone alternate service delivery options.
- The Provincial Offences Act courthouse, located at 100 Constellation Drive, Nepean, will remain closed.
- The Business Licensing Centre at 735 Industrial Avenue is open for drop-off of documents only and clients can call 613-580-2424 ext. 12735 or email businesslicensing@ottawa.ca
- The City’s Central Archives’ Reference Room at the James K. Bartleman Centre, located at 100 Tallwood Drive
Altered services include:
- Complaints for unauthorized parking on private property will continue to require new electronic procedures for proof of authority.
- Residents needing financial assistance are asked call us at 3-1-1 and select option #4 for Social Services for information on all programs and services.
- People cannot visit the Employment and Social Services or Rent Supplement offices, but staff are available to help residents by phone, email and mail from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday.
- Ontario Works claimants do not need to drop off any documents, including income reporting statements. Those documents can be given the case worker at a later date.
Ottawa Library Services
Operating Ottawa Public Library (OPL) branches will be open holds pickup and returns. You can consult OPL’s hours and locations web page at any time. Visit the OPL website for further information and to access library services online.
Acquiring City services or doing transactions online
While all counter services are suspended, residents can acquire some services and complete payments and registrations online or by phone or cheque. Please confirm with your City contact prior to mailing a cheque.
Residents can go to myservice.ottawa.ca to pay water bills and your interim property taxes. If you do not have an account, registration is simple – just sign-up with your email address. Once registered, you’ll need your account or property roll number to pay your bi
City bills have other payment options besides the myservice.ottawa.ca accounts, which include:
- Paying by credit or debit card online at ottawa.ca
- Paying through your financial institution by creating a payee number on your institution’s mobile app or through an ATM machine
- Paying by phone with your financial institution
- Sending a cheque by mail
Visit ottawa.ca to access many other services online as well – including pet registration, open-air fire permit, parking tickets, and load Presto Cards.
