Ottawa’s urban boundary could be expanding. What does it mean?

When Ottawa amalgamated with nearby communities in 2001 and became closer to the city we know today, the area known as Ottawa was geographically huge. It spanned 2,790 square kilometres, making the municipal boundary larger than Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, at the time.

Residents benefit from immense land outside of the urban boundary, clearing the way for farmland, rural communities, small villages and businesses. Since then, the urban boundary has continued to creep out as Ottawa’s needs and population evolve, shrinking farmland and green space while allowing room for new neighbourhoods.

As Ottawa continues to brace and plan for huge population growth, another urban expansion could be on the horizon. The city’s planning for everything from social services and infrastructure to transit and homebuilding is based on these growth projections, and is held responsible by the provincial government to hit those targets and accommodate the new residents expected to soon call Ottawa home — this is called the Growth Management Strategy (GMS).

But there have been conflicts brewing, with the province claiming that its own growth projections do not match the ones that Ottawa concluded, leaving a large gap to fill.

In 2020, the city projected Ottawa’s population would reach about 1.4 million by 2046, but provincial figures now estimate the city’s population could reach nearly 1.7 million by 2051, an increase of more than half a million residents.

According to the report, this means Ottawa will need to accommodate approximately 257,750 new households to accommodate that growth.

To make room for these new Ottawans, city policy aims to keep 51 per cent within existing neighbourhoods through intensification. But the study also recommends expanding the urban boundary by about 2,700 hectares — that’s nearly the size of Barrhaven’s footprint.

City staff are expected to bring forward a proposed plan and report to explore the city’s options, but it won’t be considered until the new council term, after the municipal election this fall. 

In the meantime, councillors are looking to get the word out about the changes that could be coming – and what it could mean for your community.