OTTAWA

Back to school, COVID-19 and Ottawa City Hall: Five things to watch in Ottawa this week

Josh Pringle CTV News Ottawa Producer and Digital Lead

Published Sunday, August 16, 2020 3:11PM EDT

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OTTAWA -- Countdown to back to school, watching the COVID-19 numbers and the City of Ottawa eyes a new bylaw for landlords.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at five stories to watch this week in Ottawa, plus sports and events to checkout.

Back to School plans

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board and Ottawa Catholic School Board spent the weekend revising plans for in-person secondary school classes and Remote Learning.

Both boards released their back to school plans last Monday, but the Ministry of Education released new guidelines for Remote Learning on Thursday. The guidelines include a requirement that students enrolled in online learning spend 225 minutes a day in a "Zoom-style" classroom.

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Both the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and Ottawa Catholic School Board planned to have secondary school students come to class in cohorts for the morning period, and then return home for afternoon online classes. The ministry says it expects students to be in-class 50 per cent of the time.

In a statement on Saturday, the OCDSB told parents the ministry directive on remote learning would require some changes to the plans for both in-person and online learning. The board is also working on a revised schedule for high schools. An update will be released by the end of day Wednesday.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board says it expects changes to both online and in-class models before school starts, and an update will be sent to parents on Monday or Tuesday.

COVID-19 in Ottawa

With the start of the new school year less than three weeks away, all eyes will be on the COVID-19 numbers in the community.

On Saturday, University of Ottawa epidemiologist Dr. Raywat Deonandan told CTV News at Six that it's "relatively safe" right now to open schools in September, but that could change by the time school starts Sept. 3.

Ottawa Public Health reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, after 11 new cases on Saturday.

Between Aug. 9 and 16, there were 72 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa.

Dr. Deonandan says the goal should be to get the case count as low as possible before school starts.

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
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City of Ottawa Bylaw to regulate rental properties

City of Ottawa committees resume work this week following a summer break. The Community and Protective Services Committee meets on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

The agenda includes the "Rental Housing Property Management By-law and Rental Accommodation Study Update."

The proposed bylaw would require landlords of apartment buildings with 10 or more units, or three or more storeys, to develop and maintain a capital maintenance plan to ensure the continued reliability and safety of rental housing. Landlords will be required to respond to urgent requests within 24 hours.

Ottawa Public Library branches open

For the first time since mid-March, the Ottawa Public Library will allow visitors into the branches for in-person services, including use of public computers at select branches, browsing and card registration.

Public computer and printer use will be available by appointment only at the following branches:

Alta Vista, Beaverbrook, Blackburn Hamlet, Carlingwood, Carp, Centennial, Cumberland, Elmvale Acres, Emerald Plaza, Greely, Greenboro, Main, Nepean, Centrepointe, North Gloucester, North Gower, Richmond, Ruth E. Dickinson, Stittsville, St. Laurent, and Vanier.

The Bookmobile will also begin a modified service on Monday for contactless returns and holds pickup service.

Countdown to the Cumberland byelection

The clock is ticking for candidates to register for the Cumberland byelection. The byelection is to fill the vacant seat after Stephen Blais resigned to become the new MPP for Orleans.

Candidates have until 2 p.m. on Friday to register. There are currently eight candidates on the ballot: