City of Ottawa identifies sites for sprung structures in Knoxdale-Merivale, Kanata South

City of Ottawa staff have selected two sites for the sprung structures that would be built to house and support asylum seekers.

Clara Freire, general manager of Community and Social Services, said in a memo Thursday that the first such structure will be built on lands at 1645 Woodroffe Ave., near the Nepean Sportsplex. The second, if necessary, would be at 40 Hearst Way in Kanata, part of the Eagleson Park & Ride.

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The city looked at several sites for the structures, billed as "Newcomer Reception Centres." The sites were assessed on criteria including availability of transit, walkability to neighbourhood amenities such as social services and grocery stores, and the level of compatibility between the proposed development and the surrounding neighbourhood.

Stantec Consulting was hired to undertake an independent technical review of the top five sites the city was considering, eventually settling on the properties on Woodroffe Avenue and Hearst Way.

The portion of the 1645 Woodroffe Ave. site to be developed is bounded by the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) Confederation Education Centre to the west, West Hunt Club Road to the north, a wooded area to the east, and the Nepean Sportsplex to the south. The parcel is currently owned by the NCC. The city says although the site has a somewhat low level of walkability, it has access to bus rapid transit along Woodroffe Avenue and is less than 5 kilometres from a future Stage 2 LRT station.

"From an operational perspective, the co-location of the Nepean Sportsplex on site could allow for additional programming space for the newcomer reception centre," the memo said.

This site is in Ward 9, Knoxdale-Merivale.

Coun. Sean Devine told CTV News Ottawa Thursday night that he is annoyed with the process, but will welcome newcomers to his ward.

"The most important thing I can say is that if Ward 9 has been selected as a location for this, then I believe Ward 9 is ready to help. I understand people will have a strong reaction to this, but like it or not, asylum seekers are coming to Canada and coming to Ottawa. They are escaping horrible circumstances and they need and deserve help."

The Nepean Sportsplex. Part of this lot has been identified as a site for a newcomer welcoming centre in Ottawa using a sprung structure. Nov. 7, 2024. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)

The site at 40 Hearst Way is bounded by Hearst Way to the south, a commercial plaza to the west, the Highway 417 exit ramp to the north and Eagleson Drive and the remainder of the Eagleson Park & Ride to the east. The memo says the site currently serves as overflow parking for the Eagleson Park & Ride. Neighbourhood amenities, including a grocery store, are within a 15-minute walk and the site is within 5 km of a future Stage 2 LRT station. This second site would be advanced if necessary, Freire said.

This site is in Ward 23, Kanata South.

The two sites identified by City of Ottawa staff for sprung structures that would serve as welcome centres for asylum seekers.

Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley stressed that a structure will only be built at the Hearst Way site if required.

"What I was assured was this is not being built now and that it's as required or as needed," he told CTV News Ottawa. "If they have to build here, we're going to have to work with them on that. We're going to need to have information on what that's going to look like. They literally just started telling us about this today. What's going to be the impact on transit by building in a transitway? We've never done that before."

Hubley said he's frustrated with how the federal government has been dealing with asylum seekers in Canada, accusing the government of "just dumping" asylum seekers on cities.

"Unless we get some control over this issue, we may need 10 of these structures. Yes, if they have to build a second one, then that's more of a concern for us, but I see the potential here, based on past actions of the federal government, that we might need 10 of these things," he said. "I'm pretty frustrated with what the federal government is doing not just to our city but to other cities here and also to newcomers to our country. Nobody is coming out in a good way in this thing, and it upsets me. As a proud Canadian, it really upsets me as to what I see is going on here."

The Eagleson Park & Ride on Hearst Way. Part of this lot has been identified as a site for a newcomer welcoming centre in Ottawa using a sprung structure. Nov. 7, 2024. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)

Freire says the structures are expected to be built and operational by the end of 2025. According to the memo, Stantec provided a pre-construction opinion of probable costs for the engineering site works, estimating the total cost for the Woodroffe site at $3.5 million and the total cost for the Hearst Way site at $1.9 million. The technical evaluation of each site undertaken by Stantec indicated there are no significant engineering, environmental, transportation, or planning issues with either of them.

A pair of sites in Barrhaven were among the top five sites the city was considering. In the past week, many residents have protested against building the structures in their neighbourhoods.

What are sprung structures?

The sprung structures, also known as tensile membrane structures, are modular buildings that can be customized in a number of different ways.

The City of Ottawa says the structures can have doors, windows, canopies, vestibules, covered walkway systems, connecting corridors, glazing walls, and graphic elements. These are semi-permanent structures and while they've been described as "tentlike", they are different from emergency tents used in disaster response.

Interiors can be constructed with washrooms, offices, kitchens and sleeping spaces. The structures are designed to be fully compliant with local building and fire codes.

Freire wrote that these newcomer reception centres are "intended to provide a more dignified option for newcomers who are currently sleeping on bunk beds in recreational facilities that have not been designed for human habitation."

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"There are currently 330 beds at temporary emergency overflow centres, two of which are operating out of City-owned recreation facilities, and approximately 600 single individuals staying in shelters are newcomers, which represents 60 per cent of shelter users," Freire wrote.

The City of Ottawa shows off examples of sprung structures. (City of Ottawa memo)

Next steps

Freire says that staff will be proceeding with development of tensile membrane structure first 1645 Woodroffe Ave., followed by 40 Hearst Way, beginning with one site and then advancing to the other, as needed.

In order to finalize the newcomer reception centre project, staff will:

• Advance the required planning applications and will work with the NCC to obtain the necessary approvals for 1645 Woodroffe Avenue.
• Staff expect a zoning report for 40 Hearst Way to be brought forward to Planning and Housing Committee and Council in January 2025.
• Site Plan Control applications for the two sites will be submitted in early 2025.
• Community notification and consultation will form part of the planning application process to solicit feedback on site design. This consultation process does not consider the end users, or the type of structure used for the proposed development.
• Staff anticipate building permit applications for the structures will be submitted by end of Q1 2025.
• Moving through the procurement process to issue a design-build contract.

Staff will also be seeking a formalized letter of commitment for funding from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and will work with the ward councillors for the identified sites to provide additional information about the project and support any public engagement that the councillors would like to advance. 

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Shaun Vardon