COVID-19 is something that we are all going to have to face together. Our primary concern is the health and safety of Ontarians.
We hope you are staying safe and healthy.
Thank you to all the province’s essential services workers and those on the front-line. You step up everyday to ensure individuals, families and seniors have what they need to stay safe and healthy.
Thank you to everyone else who is staying home and practicing physical distancing.
It is important to listen to the advice of Public Health experts:
- Wash hands frequently
- Avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth
- Avoid contact with people who are sick
- Practice social-distancing
- Stay home if you’re not feeling well
- If you are concerned or suspect you have the virus, call
Telehealth Ontario: 1-866-797-0000 or
Ottawa Public Health: 613-580-6744
We will be publishing our Newsletter on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now.
Congratulations to the class of 2020 – high school graduates! Well done on reaching this important milestone.
New as of June 26
Ontario Providing Additional Support for Seniors
This funding will help non-profit organizations, local services boards, or Indigenous groups develop programs for seniors that focus on combatting social isolation, promoting seniors’ safety and well-being, improving financial security and making communities age-friendly.
The announcement was made today by Premier Doug Ford and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
This year’s grants will range from $1,000 to $100,000 and will fund projects that will:
- Help older individuals and couples receive the support they need in their community;
- Ensure seniors are less at risk for neglect, abuse and fraud, and that their rights and dignity are protected;
- Ensure more older adults are connected and engaged, reducing social isolation; and,
- Provide more opportunities for older adults in employment and volunteering, achieving greater financial security and engagement within the community.
In the past, the Seniors Community Grant Program has supported community-based activities like seniors’ fitness classes, lawn bowling, brain fitness activities, multicultural dance, along with a public education and awareness campaign that challenges the myths and stereotypes that portray older adults as frail, out-of-touch, technologically illiterate, and no longer employable.
The application period for the Seniors Community Grant Program is now open and will close on August 7, 2020. Unincorporated and incorporated not-for-profit organizations, local services boards, or Indigenous groups must submit applications to Transfer Payment Ontario (formerly Grants Ontario) online at Ontario.ca/GetFunding.
Ontario Provides Stable Electricity Pricing for Industrial and Commercial Companies
Effective immediately, companies that participate in the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) will not be required to reduce their electricity usage during peak hours, as their proportion of Global Adjustment (GA) charges for these companies will be frozen.
Due to COVID-19, electricity consumption in Ontario has been below average and the province is forecast to have a reliable supply of electricity to accommodate increased usage. Peak hours generally occur during the summer when the weather is hot and electricity demand from cooling systems is high.
The government previously announced it was providing temporary relief for industrial and commercial electricity consumers that do not participate in the Regulated Price Plan (RPP) by deferring a portion of GA charges for April, May and June 2020.
Ontario Helping Youth Pursue New Opportunities
The funding will flow through the 2020 Youth Opportunities Fund, a province-wide initiative that creates opportunities for young people and empowers and supports parents, guardians and caregivers.
Details were provided today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Jill Dunlop, Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues.
The 2020 Youth Opportunities Fund will provide financial support to 43 community organizations that will benefit youth aged 12 to 25, and their families. Projects receiving funding this year include:
- Black Moms Connection ― focusing on economic empowerment for Black mothers across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
- Immigrants francophones d’Afrique pour l’intégration et le développement (IFAPID)― to support newcomers from Francophone African nations to navigate financial systems in Canada.
- Earthling Art Collective ― to provide development and mentorship opportunities for youth leaving care and the justice system in Thunder Bay.
- Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment & Training ― to help Indigenous youth in the GTA access employment and training opportunities in the skilled trades.
The Youth Opportunities Fund provides funding through the following three granting streams:
- Youth Innovations ― Provides youth facing multiple barriers with the resources they need to design and deliver new and inspiring solutions to issues that matter to them and their communities.
- Family Innovations ― Invests in local, community-driven groups delivering culturally relevant projects that empower and support parents, guardians and caregivers who face barriers and challenges to child and family wellbeing.
- System Innovations ― Supports organizations that are strengthening the quality and responsiveness of systems so that they may work better for young people facing multiple barriers.
“By increasing financial literacy for Black mothers and their families, it can change where they live, how they raise their kids, where they work and more. The impact will have a positive ripple effect for generations to come,” said Tanya Hayles, Founder, Black Moms Connection.
“Earthling Art Collective is pleased to receive a Youth Opportunities grant so we can continue to engage youth in a meaningful capacity through one-on-one mentorship and workshop facilitation. We look forward to continuing our mission of establishing a web of young creatives supported by our programming and extensive network of partners and collaborators,” said Benjamin Murray, Director, Earthling Art Collective.
Prime Minister announces support for students serving their communities and opportunities to gain paid work experience
Post-secondary students and recent graduates are facing unique and unprecedented challenges because of COVID-19. There are fewer jobs, and many co-op, internship, and community service placements have been cancelled. At the same time, not-for-profits are seeing an increased demand for their services and thousands of Canadians who want to be a part of the solution, which opens up opportunities for students in their communities.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the launch of the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG), which will support post-secondary students and recent graduates as they volunteer to serve in their communities’ COVID-19 response and gain valuable experience at the same time. The CSSG will provide these volunteers with a one-time payment of between $1,000 and $5,000 based on the number of hours they serve. To find not-for-profit organizations looking for help during the pandemic, post-secondary students and recent graduates can use the new I Want to Help platform, which also launched today.
The Government of Canada is also helping young Canadians find paid work placements and get the skills they need to start their careers. These activities include:
- Supporting an additional 20,000 job placements for post-secondary students in high demand sectors. A new investment of $186 million in the Student Work Placement Program will help more post-secondary students across Canada get paid work experience related to their field of study. This funding is in addition to the $80 million that was announced on April 22, 2020.
- Creating 10,000 new job placements for young people between the ages of 15 and 30 through the Canada Summer Jobs program. New funding of over $60 million will help expand the current work placement target from 70,000 to 80,000, creating 10,000 more placements for young people aged 15 to 30. The program provides wage subsidies to employers so they can give quality work experience to young Canadians and help them develop the skills they need to transition into the labour market.
- Creating 5,000 new internships through Mitacs for college and university students across Canada with small and medium-sized businesses. Funding of $40 million will also help develop partnerships with new industries, and offer internships to students in more areas of study.
- Increasing funding to the Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y) program by $40 million to help post-secondary graduates gain professional work experience. DS4Y provides wage subsidy opportunities to help connect young people with small and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profits.
- Creating over 3,500 new job placements and internships through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. New funding of $34 million, in addition to the over $153 million announced on April 22, will support programs serving high-demand sectors such as health, community services, and information technology, and help other sectors to recover.
- Providing $6.7 million for the Computers for Schools Plus (CFS+) program. The partnership-based program refurbishes donated surplus computers and electronic devices, and provides them to schools, libraries, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous communities, and low-income Canadians. It also offers paid, practical work internships for young people, through which they can develop advanced digital skills as well as experience in project management, teamwork, and communications.
- Creating 5,000 to 10,000 more work-integrated learning opportunities through the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER). The BHER will launch a national challenge for students to develop creative solutions in response to current and future sector needs as defined by Canadian industry. The national student challenge will help connect Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses with the next generation of talent in Canada.
The Canada Student Service Grant and I Want to Help platform are part of the nearly $9 billion in support for post-secondary students and recent graduates announced by the Government of Canada on April 22, 2020. The funding for Mitacs, DS4Y, CFS+, and the Business + Higher Education Roundtable also fall under this funding.
As part of its COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, the Government of Canada is providing support for students who want to make a difference in their communities, while gaining the skills and supports needed for future success whether that be in their studies or in the job market. This support also includes the Canada Emergency Student Benefit, and temporary changes to the Canada Summer Jobs and Canada Student Grants and Loans programs.
Government of Canada and provincial partners invest more than $109M in COVID-19 research
The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Health, announced the results of that funding competition: an investment of more than $109M over one year in COVID-19 research. This investment will support 139 research teams from across the country that will focus on accelerating the development, testing, and implementation of measures to mitigate the rapid spread of COVID-19 and its negative consequences on people, communities, and health systems. For example, researchers will focus on domestic and international clinical trials and scale-up promising existing projects that will increase our understanding of the efficacy and effectiveness of vaccines, therapeutics, and clinical approaches to COVID-19. The research teams will also evaluate public health management, including containment strategies such as physical distancing and travel restrictions, and study at-risk populations. Their findings will inform decision-making and planning at national and international levels.
This research initiative includes a significant international component. More than a quarter of the 139 research teams will be working in collaboration with researchers in other countries. Many of these collaborations involve researchers in lower and middle-income countries where the greatest need exists for support in the pandemic. By helping curb the virus overseas, these Canadian researchers will contribute to global health while protecting safety at home.
The Government of Canada is providing the funding for this research through CIHR and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), in partnership with Alberta Innovates (AI), Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), Research Manitoba (RMB), Research Nova Scotia (RNS), Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF), and the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF).
Ottawa Police Front Desk Services begin reopening; Records Checks by appointment only
The Ottawa Police Service is happy to announce that we will begin to reopen our buildings to the public in a staggered approach. We are still encouraging people to visit us for services available online at ottawapolice.ca, such as filing a report or applying for a records check (only available at 2670 Queensview).
June 29: Front Desk Services at 211 Huntmar Drive and 3343 St. Joseph Blvd. will resume.
July 13: Front Desk Services at 474 Elgin Street will resume.
Front Desk Services:
- Take reports on criminal acts including: mischief/damage to property, breaking and entering, and fraud;
- Redirect reports for sexual assault and domestic abuse to a sworn officer;
- Assist clients who are required to attend and sign in to meet conditions of release; and,
- Take collision reports.
Please do not bring evidence or found items to our Front Desks. Instead, call us at 613-236-1222.
Reporting a collision
If you have been in a collision, call us at 613-236-1222. You will then be provided instructions on what to do next depending on your specific situation.
Public Health Precautions
To ensure the health and safety of our staff and visitors, we are asking that upon entry, visitors wear a mask, sanitize hands and practice physical distancing.
Capacity at each location will be capped. When the maximum is reached, the doors will lock. Please be patient.
We ask that you not visit us if you are sick.
*NEW* 2670 Queensview by appointment only—specific visitors ONLY at this time
Our Queensview location will remain closed until a backlog of applications is cleared.
There are many people who applied for records checks in the last several weeks that now need to visit our 2670 Queensview location for fingerprints or to provide in-person identification to complete their application already in progress.
In the coming days, our staff will reach out to those people to book an appointment. Please wait to be contacted.
Thousands of online records checks continue to be processed online.
For more information, visit us at ottawapolice.ca.
Reminder to secure your windows to prevent injury
The Ottawa Police has responded to four separate incidents since April 12, 2020, where a child has fallen from an open window and suffered injury.
The combination of hot weather and the pandemic has created a stronger likelihood that children are home and indoors. In homes without air conditioning there is a greater safety risk of children falling out of windows.
It is important to secure access to your windows; the following are some safety tips:
- Lock your window closed at all times when you cannot supervise a small child around this falling hazard
- Install window guards
- Put up window stoppers
- Move furniture away from windows (there are more accidents when furniture is near a window).
- Remove the cranks from crank-open windows to keep kids from opening them.
More tips and examples of how to keep your children safe around windows can be found online.
Here is Ottawa Public Health’s advice for staying cool during a heat wave:
- Drink plenty of water
- Cool off in the shade or at a park or greenspace or an air conditioned space. City splash pads are now open and beaches open June 27. Some apartment buildings have air-conditioned lounges
- Take cool baths and showers as often as needed. Use a fan and mist your skin with water
- Keep your home cool by closing blinds and curtains on any windows facing the sun
- Stay connected with people in your community who have a difficult time coping with hot weather and those who live alone. Check on them regularly.
- Visit the Parenting in Ottawa website for more info on keeping children safe during hot weather
Ottawa Tourism Launches Free Resident Savings Passport
Ottawa Tourism introduces the #MyOttawa Pass, Ottawa’s very own local savings passport, complete with an impressive collection of more than 60 discounts and offers from businesses across the city. There has never been a better time to be a tourist in your own backyard, so let’s help kickstart the local economy by getting out in support of local businesses as they reopen, all while finding deals and exploring the city. This FREE pass is available to all Ottawa locals until July 31, 2020. All you need to do is sign up and present your offer at any participating businesses to redeem and save.