Ottawa Board of Health approves 2022 budget
Ottawa's board of health has approved its 2022 budget, which calls for more than $124.8 million in spending, largely on the fight against COVID-19.
The draft budget was passed unanimously Monday night as concerns swirled around the arrival of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. Dr. Vera Etches, the city's medical officer of health, confirmed two additional positive cases Monday, bringing the city's total to four following the confirmation of two cases on Sunday—Canada's first.
COVID-19 remains a large part of the public health budget for 2022. The budget calls for $41.5 million in funding to tackle the pandemic. It also includes an additional $47.7 million in one-time expenditures on COVID-19.
The province covers much of the municipal health budget, though about 21 per cent is covered through municipal taxes and the health unit expects to raise about $1.1 million through other revenue streams.
Staff anticipate the province will cover the city's COVID-19 costs in 2022, as it did in 2020 and 2021.
Etches also remains optimistic that some of the work required to combat the pandemic will be reduced as the year wears on.
"We are optimistically looking at less of that kind of response needed into the summer of 2022 and through the fall," Etches said, adding that more of the population is expected to be vaccinated by then.
"We expect under-fives will be eligible in the new year. This will make a difference," she said.
Appointments for COVID-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11 opened last week. In the first weekend of clinics, Etches said Monday that more than 8,400 children had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. OPH has said that about 77,000 children aged five to 11 would be eligible for vaccines in Ottawa and Etches says the 8,400 who’ve had their first dose and the thousands of others who have upcoming appointments account for 40 per cent of that population.
City council will vote on the full 2022 budget on Dec. 8.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.