Rural Summit

On November 2, over 250 residents gathered for Ottawa’s Rural Summit 2024 at Sir Robert Borden High School. The event provided a platform for rural voices to engage directly with City leaders on the most pressing issues affecting rural areas. The summit featured opening remarks from the mayor, who presented his "10 Commitments to Rural Ottawa," which outlined his plan and dedication to improving rural services and representation.

Mayor’s 10 Commitments to Ottawa’s Rural Community

During his presentation, the mayor announced a series of commitments focused on enhancing rural life:

1. Conduct a water rate review and improve rural ditches
2. Strengthen the mandate of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
3. Ensure a dedicated rural lead in every City department
4. Enhance rural paramedic response times
5. Develop a rural-focused list for prioritizing intersection signals
6. Incorporate rural feedback into road renewal projects
7. Streamline planning processes for rural applicants
8. Create a balanced rural growth strategy
9. Seek provincial recognition of Ottawa as a “rural city,”
10. Commit to another Rural Summit within the next four years

Breakout sessions: key topics and resident engagement

Following the mayor’s address, attendees participated in breakout sessions on five key themes. Each session was led by one of Ottawa’s five rural councillors. These sessions allowed residents to discuss further and ask questions about the five themes, share their perspectives, and discuss actionable solutions. The five themes were:

• Transportation, Transit and Infrastructure
• Environment and Agriculture
• Community and Social Services
• Planning and Economic Development
• Governance

These discussions helped deepen the understanding of residents’ needs and identified potential solutions to address these key areas, laying the groundwork for more effective policies and programs.

The summit was an overall success, fostering collaboration between residents, city officials, and stakeholders to build a stronger, more inclusive rural community. Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to these essential discussions—your voices are helping shape Ottawa's rural future.

The Ottawa Rural Summit 2024 was held on Saturday, November 2, at Sir Robert Borden High School (131 Greenbank Rd, Nepean, ON K2H 8R1). This year’s event built upon the feedback we received from rural residents through our engagement activities, including ward workshops and the rural survey. We heard residents' concerns, and the Summit was chance to collaborate with the City on potential solutions, action items, and next steps that will improve the quality of life for rural communities across Ottawa.

Why attend

This was an opportunity to move from discussion to action. The summit was designed to provide a platform for residents to work directly with Councillors and the Mayor to develop innovative ideas to address key issues affecting rural life.

Event highlights

Date: Saturday, November 2, 2024

Location: Sir Robert Borden High School, Ottawa

Time: 9:00 AM – 1:15 PM

Agenda:

9 am: Doors open for mingling and refreshments

10 am – 10:45 am: Introduction remarks, including presentations from the Mayor and Councillors on feedback they've received so far regarding various city services such as governance, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, and community services.

11 am – noon: Breakout sessions on key topics including:

• Transportation, Transit, and Infrastructure
  • Potential Topics: Road maintenance and upgrades, winter road maintenance, traffic issues, pedestrian infrastructure, truck traffic, traffic control devices, public transit, ditches, culverts, drainage, stormwater, other capital investments and assets.
• Environment and Agriculture
  • Potential Topics: Watercourses and conservation authorities, solid waste (garbage), farming and agriculture, renewable energy, climate change, natural heritage (wetlands, forests), noxious weeds
• Community and Social Services
  • Potential Topics: Parks and recreation facilities, emergency services (police, paramedics, fire), road safety, seniors issues, youth issues, vulnerable communities, affordable housing, health, mental health, community centres and programming, social services
• Planning and Economic Development
  • Potential Topics: Official Plan, Secondary plans, zoning, village growth, BIAs, local commercial activity, preserving rural culture
• Governance
  • Potential topics: Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee mandate, budget processes, rural affairs office, consultation, engagement and communications, accountability, red tape / efficiency, 3-1-1 services, client services,

Noon – 12:45 pm: Catered lunch and further engagement with Councillors. It is important to register to ensure we have the right amount of food available for everyone.

12:45 pm – 1 pm: Closing remarks outlining next steps and timelines for final reports, followed by a celebration of rural communities with light entertainment.

The Rural Summit was a unique opportunity to learn more from and engage directly with city leadership.

We're pleased to inform you about the launch of the Rural Summit 2024 survey, an initiative designed to gather insights from rural communities. The Rural Summit 2024 aims to address the unique challenges and opportunities encountered in our rural areas. To ensure that our discussions and workshops are tailored to your specific needs, please be sure to share your valuable feedback!

Your participation is crucial as it will help shape the content and focus of ward-specific workshops scheduled for this spring. These workshops will provide an opportunity for in-depth discussions with elected officials and City staff on local issues and brainstorming solutions.

The outcomes of these workshops will be integral in shaping the agenda for the Rural Summit 2024, slated for November. Your input will directly contribute to the development of strategies aimed at enhancing the well-being and prosperity of our rural communities.

Your opinion matters, and we value your insights. Please take a few moments to complete the survey using the link provided below:

https://engage.ottawa.ca/embeds/projects/37643/survey-tools/45541. Survey closed

In addition to the survey, Rural Workshops will take place in each of the rural wards in the hopes of to gain as much feedback as possible. These workshops will be in-person, are open to all residents of the respective ward, and we encourage all to attend.

Below are the dates and times for all of the upcoming rural workshops.

Ward 19 workshop - April 10 at the Navan Arena at 7 pm. https://www.catherinekitts.com/event-details-registration/rural-summit-2024-ward-19-workshop-sommet-rural-2024-atelier-du-quartier-19 Registration is closed.

Ward 19 French workshop, bilingual with French as the main language - April 19 at the Sarsfield community Centre at 7 pm.

Ward 20 workshop - April 24 at the Greely Community Centre at 7 pm.

Ward 21 workshop - April 29 at Alfred Taylor Center, beginning with a drop-in session from 1 to 4 pm, followed by the workshop starting at 6:30 pm.

Ward 1 workshop - May 27 at the R.J. Kennedy Community Arena at 7 pm.

Ward 5 workshop - June 1 at the West Carleton Community Complex (5670 Carp Road). The morning session starts at 9 am and the afternoon session starts at 1:30 pm. Registration is required at clarkekelly.ca or 613-580-2475. For more information on the Ward 5 workshop please visit https://ruralsummit2024ward5.info/ Registration closed.

Thank you to all those who participated in the Ward Workshops! An 'As We Heard It' report is being crafted for each of the workshops to outline all of the invaluable feedback captured. These reports will be prepared and posted in chronological order.