NEW THIS MORNING
Here's what you need to know about Saturday's Help Santa Toy Parade in Ottawa
Santa Claus will arrive in Ottawa on Saturday to kick off the Christmas and holiday season.
The 55th Help Santa Toy Parade is set for Saturday, hosted by the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association.
"We are going to be ready for Saturday. It's going to be a lot of fun and we hope to see the whole city out," Cameron Taylor, chair of the Help Santa Toy Parade, told CTV Morning Live.
The parade collects donations to help Toy Mountain provide toys for the holidays.
"Everybody can help Santa. People can bring new, unwrapped gifts to the parade – we would love that," Taylor said.
"We're going to have the giant red toy cart out there with our team collecting all those toys. We are going to be collecting cash on the route."
Firefighters will also be carrying boots with a tap feature to donate to the Help Santa Campaign.
Taylor says the parade will have bands, including the Ottawa Fire Service band, and large floats.
"I am so excited to come to Ottawa to see all the good little boys and girls and to throw some cheers," Santa Claus told CTV Morning Live's Stefan Keyes.
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Here's what you need to know about the Help Santa Toy Parade
The parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Route
The Help Santa Toy Parade starts at Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue.
The parade will travel west on Laurier Avenue to Bank Street, and then south on Bank Street to Lansdowne.
Donations
The Help Santa Toy Parade will be accepting toys and cash donations for the Help Santa Campaign, with donations supporting CTV and MOVE 100's Toy Mountain. Toy Mountain gives toys to local families for the holidays.
You can also donate online at www.toyparade.ca. New, unwrapped toys can also be dropped off at all Ottawa Fire Services stations until Christmas.
The Help Santa Toy Parade is the first of several Santa Claus parades in Ottawa this holiday season. The Barrhaven Santa Claus Parade is Sunday evening.
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