It's budget week at Ottawa City Hall, the Ottawa People's Commission on the Convoy Occupation releases a report on the impacts of the 'Freedom Convoy', and Winterlude returns after a two-year hiatus.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at five stories to watch in Ottawa this week.
Residents will find out this week how the city of Ottawa plans to spend their tax dollars this year, as the 2023 draft budgets are presented.
Council directed staff to draft the 2023 budget with a 2 to 2.5 per cent property tax increase, and approved a 2.5 per cent increase for Ottawa Public Health, the Ottawa Public Library, Transit Services and Ottawa Police.
Staff have warned the city is facing "extraordinary" pressures, and the draft budget will include mitigation measures to consider to find savings, including pausing discretionary spending and deferring capital projects.
Council also approved motions to freeze transit fares for one year, and reduce youth recreational programming costs by 10 per cent.
The Ottawa Public Health budget will be presented on Monday, followed by the Ottawa Public Library Board budget on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Council and the Ottawa Police Services Board will present the budgets.
Council will finalize the budget on March 1.
The Ottawa People's Commission on the Convoy Occupation will release Part 1 of its final report on the impacts of the 'Freedom Convoy' occupation on Monday.
The commission says the report will focus on the experiences residents have shared and key findings.
Ottawa's People's Commission is a grassroots effort to promote "healing and justice" after the 2022 occupation, according to the website. The initiative of Centretown Community Health Centre held 14 hearings, eight community consultations and received over 75 written submissions.
Part 2 of the report, offering further analysis and recommendations for action, will be released in March.
A protester waves a Canadian flag in front of parked vehicles on Rideau Street on the 15th day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Ottawa is set to face the coldest stretch of the winter this week, with minus double-digit temperatures in the forecast.
After a relatively mild January, Environment Canada's forecast calls for overnight lows of between minus 15 C and minus 28 C all week. The low will be minus 24 C on Thursday and minus 28 C on Friday. Daytime highs this week will be minus 17 C on Friday and Saturday.
Environment Canada's monthly forecast calls for below seasonal temperatures for Ottawa over the next month.
The average temperature through Jan. 28 had been a high of minus 1.8 C and a low of minus 8.5 C. The average temperature for this time of year in Ottawa is a high of minus 6 C and a low of minus 15 C.
All eyes will be on the Rideau Canal Skateway this week, to see if the cold temperatures will allow the National Capital Commission to open the world's largest skating rink.
The Rideau Canal Skateway has not opened for a single day of skating so far this winter. The latest opening date for the skateway is Feb. 2, back in 2002.
In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, the NCC said its teams will "resume their work" this week to build the thickness of the ice following the snowfall of the last few days.
"The Skateway opens to the public once the surface is at least 30 centimetres thick with good quality ice. For that to happen, we need 10 to 14 days of consecutive cold weather," the NCC said.
A red flag signals that the Rideau Canal Skateway is closed. (Aaron Reid/CTV News Ottawa)
Winterlude kicks off in Ottawa and Gatineau on Friday, as the popular winter festival returns with in-person activities for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Activities include ice sculptures on Sparks Street and the Snowflake Kingdom in Gatineau's Jacques-Cartier Park.
The opening weekend of the 45th Winterlude will include the show Minsoshkite in the Great Hall of the Canadian Museum of History and the Winterlude National Ice-Carving Championship on Sparks Street.
The second weekend of Winterlude will include Winter Pride and many activities that "highlight our country's cultural diversity and inclusion", Canadian Heritage said.
Winterlude runs from Feb. 3 to 20.
Ottawa Board of Health meeting – 5 p.m.
The House of Commons resumes
Ottawa Planning and Housing Committee meeting – 9:30 a.m.
Ottawa Public Library Board meeting – 5 p.m.
Ottawa Carleton District School Board meeting – 7:30 p.m.
Ottawa Police Services Board meeting on 2023 budget – 8:30 a.m.
Ottawa City Council meeting – 10 a.m.
Ottawa Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee meeting – 10 a.m.
Capital Hoops Classic at TD Place
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Sky-gazers and shutterbugs across much of Canada were treated to a spectacular display of northern lights Thursday night and into Friday morning.
A new survey conducted by Research Co. found that the majority of Canadians support tying speeding tickets to income, otherwise known as ‘progressive punishment.’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's teenage daughter and son, Ella-Grace and Xavier, 'no longer access TikTok,' the father of three told reporters during a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden in Ottawa on March 24.
Ontario’s self-described crypto king was allegedly abducted, tortured, and beaten for days as his kidnappers looked to solicit millions in ransom, his father told a court in December.
After a day of meetings on Parliament Hill, U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced updates on various cross-border issues. CTVNews.ca breaks down Biden's first presidential visit to Canada, as it happened.
Global travel site Big 7 Travel ranked the most remote and beautiful places in the world, and only one Canadians location—Ivvavik national park—is among them.
Notable people will be in attendance at Friday’s gala dinner with U.S. President Joe Biden, hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, including former prime ministers and celebrities.
The first lady of the United States got a sweeping introduction to Canadian sports culture in Ottawa Friday as Sophie Gregoire Trudeau took Jill Biden to the curling rink for her first trip to Ottawa.
Two students are being recognized for their quick actions, and school administration and parents are thanking the community, after a difficult week at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, N.S.
Police say a woman is in hospital following a shooting in west Saint John, N.B., early Friday morning and three suspects have been arrested.
As competition for health-care workers heats up, so too does the bidding.
Ontario’s self-described crypto king was allegedly abducted, tortured, and beaten for days as his kidnappers looked to solicit millions in ransom, his father told a court in December.
Ontario's so-called sunshine list is out and the three top paid public employees in the province are all at Ontario Power Generation.
An astrophotographer from southern Ontario captured Thursday night's display of the Aurora Borealis and has offered some tips and tricks for catching a glimpse of them yourself tonight.
A man in his 30s was sent to hospital in life-threatening condition after being shot in Pierrefonds-Roxboro Friday evening, paramedics say.
Short-term rental company Airbnb says it will pull listings that don't have a proper permit from the Quebec government. The San Francisco-based company made the announcement eight days after a fatal fire destroyed an Old Montreal building that housed illegal rentals.
Quebec Premier François Legault said he was 'happy' that Roxham Road will be 'closed' at midnight Friday as part of the agreement announced between Canada and the United States on asylum seekers.
Ontario's so-called sunshine list is out and the three top paid public employees in the province are all at Ontario Power Generation.
CTV News has learned an Ontario Provincial Police sergeant with 22 years of service has been charged in Sudbury with criminal harassment.
Merrilee Fullerton, a longtime cabinet minister in Doug Ford's government, unexpectedly resigned Friday, forcing the premier to name a new minister to the children, community and social services post.
A new safety assessment of the Hamilton Road and Highbury Avenue intersection makes several recommendations to address the high number of collisions.
A London man was arrested early Friday morning after being spotted throwing a cinder block through the front door of a restaurant, according to police.
An elderly Byron man said he received numerous offers of help to clear away rotting barn rubble from his property, after a London, Ont. city council committee endorsed a recommendation to grant a demolition permit.
There are mixed feelings in Manitoba about a proposed plan to expand liquor sales and put beer, wine and hard alcohol on the shelves of retailers like grocery stores.
A town in Manitoba's Interlake area is trying to find new homes for stray cats that were dumped in the community.
A Manitoba First Nation is enacting measures to combat an ongoing drug and addiction crisis while also calling on the federal and provincial governments to do more to address drug-related deaths within northern remote Indigenous communities.
Organizers of the ‘Catch the Ace’ lottery in Hagersville are warning the public about fake tickets as the jackpot climbs closer to $2 million.
Southern Ontario got a show-stopping look at the northern lights Thursday and there may be a repeat performance this weekend.
A Kitchener man has been arrested by Waterloo regional police for making alleged death threats towards Region of Waterloo Chair Karen Redman.
Tank Standing Buffalo's MONSTR was one of eight animated shorts chosen from more than 1,200 submissions to be part of the HBO Max series Only You: An Animated Shorts Collection.
One person is missing and a dog is dead after two homes caught fire Friday afternoon in northwest Calgary.
Calgary police have released photos of a man and vehicle believed to be involved in a case of road rage last month that left the victim with substantial injuries.
An elder from a Saskatchewan First Nation says his home was raided last fall by conservation officers who confiscated moose meat intended for use in a ceremonial gathering and feast.
A Warman man is organizing opposition to a cell tower SaskTel is proposing to replace on the western edge of the city.
The SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival has announced its 2023 ticketed lineup.
Players with the Edmonton Oilers say they are committed to celebrating Pride on Saturday night when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Place.
The procession is scheduled to leave the Alberta Legislature grounds toward Rogers Place at approximately 11:45 a.m.
Members of Edmonton's River Valley Conservation Coalition board say a freedom of information request shows the city plans to remove trees in Hawrelak Park to make room for infrastructure during the controversial three-year rehabilitation project at the park.
On the streets of Chilliwack, there are more homeless people than ever before, and some of them are barely teenagers.
Over 11,000 people have signed a petition demanding the Canadian government ban octopus farms from opening in the country.
Samuel Troya saw the northern lights over Vancouver once before, about a year and a half ago, but it was nothing like the spectacle he witnessed Friday morning.
Saskatchewan’s 2023-24 budget highlighted healthcare as one of its main priorities, with Emergency Medical Services getting a small cut of the new funding.
An elder from a Saskatchewan First Nation says his home was raided last fall by conservation officers who confiscated moose meat intended for use in a ceremonial gathering and feast.
Saskatchewan is likely taking a cautious approach when it comes to the surplus announced in the 2023-24 provincial budget, according to an associate professor of economics at the University of Regina.
