Council approves an updated Community Safety and Well-Being Plan

Council today approved incorporating the mandate and goals of the former Crime Prevention Ottawa (CPO) under the Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan – ensuring its focus on reducing crime and enhancing community safety continues. The Plan will provide support to at-risk youth through social development and empower priority neighbourhoods through engagement. The City will continue to fund existing CPO initiatives, as well as transfer $750,000 from the former CPO budget to the current CSWB budget. In addition, two new public members will be added to the CSWB Advisory Committee to offer an independent resident perspective. These changes will serve as an interim plan until a full engagement and review process for the entire CSWB Plan happens in 2025, as required by the Province. Council approved an updated Idling Control By-law to reduce vehicle idling and the resulting harmful emissions that contribute to climate change and air pollution. The maximum idling time will three minutes per hour. When it is colder than zero degrees Celsius or warmer than 27 degrees Celsius, the maximum idling time will be 10 minutes per hour. If every Ottawa driver reduced daily idling in their vehicles by two minutes, it would decrease carbon dioxide emissions by about 31.2 million kilograms a year which is the equivalent of removing 6,780 vehicles from Ottawa roads. The by-law offers exemptions for health, safety and proper vehicle function. While public transit vehicles will be exempt from the by-law, other City vehicles will be subject to its requirements. The new rules take effect on January 1, 2025.  Council approved the recommendations of the Snow Plow Contractor Licensing Review to address concerns related to public safety, accessibility, consumer protection and property damage.  The City will prohibit unauthorized snow dumping on private property or in accessible parking spaces.  Additionally, snow dumped on roads and sidewalks will need to be cleared within four hours. Private snow plows will be required to display accessible signage and annual validation stickers on their license plates. While contractors will be able to use metal driveway markers to identify their serviced driveway, they will be responsible for replacing broken markers and removing debris. The minimum liability coverage required for private contractors will increase from $1 million to $2 million. The cost to administer and enforce the new provisions for private snow plowing will be fully funded by annual licensing fees, which will increase by $18 per contractor and $18 per vehicle. Council received an update on the pilot of a customized person-centred care approach in the City’s four long-term care homes. Person-centred care focuses on the individual needs of residents and enriches their lives with more choice, autonomy, to make them and their families feel as supported and at home as possible. A University of Ottawa evaluation of the program conducted earlier this year highlighted the positive impacts of person-centred care, including improvements in resident quality of life, family engagement and staff satisfaction. The City has expanded the program to six floors/units, referred to as “neighbourhoods” under the person-centred care approach, across all four homes, with plans to gradually expand to all neighbourhoods. Council approved a list of projects under the Community Partnership Major Capital program. The program seeks to improve parks and recreation facilities on a cost-sharing basis with community partners. The City will contribute more than $745,000 across five projects.  Council also approved a pilot project that would permit Councillors to solicit and/or facilitate donations to the City. The procedures provide guidelines and requirements to ensure Members’ donation-related activities are separate from decision-making processes and provide for fairness, consistency, transparency and flexibility, while mitigating any potential risk. The pilot project will be reviewed as part of the 2026-2030 Governance Review. Staff have been directed to review the potential effects of adopting a community benefits framework for the City and report back to the Finance and Corporate Services Committee and City Council no later than the end of Q4 2025. For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca, call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401) or 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with us through Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram. Related topics

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