Green infrastructure improvements to Ottawa community centre

From: Infrastructure Canada

News release

Ottawa, Ontario, July 13, 2022—Today, Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, and His Worship Jim Watson, Mayor of the City of Ottawa, announced over $625,000 in funding for green infrastructure improvements to the Hintonburg Community Centre in Ottawa.

“The Hintonburg Community Centre is a cornerstone of our neighbourhood, offering an inclusive space with a range of programs and services to residents of all ages and abilities. These retrofits will modernize this important community hub, improve its energy efficiency, and lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Residents have been advocating for strong action locally on climate change. I am proud to support their efforts to enrich our city, improve our resiliency in the face of climate change, and make our community part of the solution,” said Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities.

“Buildings are the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Ottawa and most of these emissions are from space heating. That’s why the City of Ottawa has spearheaded a renovation and retrofit program to achieve higher building energy performance improvements in City-owned buildings, and programs such as Better Buildings Ottawa to encourage the private sector to do the same. Achieving targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Ottawa-wide by 2050 will require concerted efforts and collaboration among residents, businesses and across all levels of government,” said His Worship Jim Watson, Mayor of the City of Ottawa.

Funding will support deep retrofits to the facility to help make it more energy efficient. Improvements will include upgrades to the building; installing high performance windows, upgrading heating, cooling and ventilation equipment, and switching from gas heating to heat pumps. Once complete the retrofits will serve to reduce the facility's energy consumption by an estimated 30.8% and greenhouse gas emissions by 28.9 tonnes annually. The renewed community centre will be more environmentally friendly, with reduced fuel costs for heating, and be more resilient.

This project is the first deep retrofit of a City of Ottawa building. It is a vital asset for the Hintonburg and Mechanicsville communities, providing spaces for people to socialize, have fun, learn, and stay active. It will enable the Centre to continue offering a wide range of programming to people of all ages. This includes afterschool programs and specialized programs tailored to the needs of people with developmental or physical disabilities.

Quick facts

  • The Government of Canada is investing over $625,000 through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program.

  • The Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program is an integral part of Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan, providing $1.5 billion over five years towards green and accessible retrofits, repairs or upgrades of existing public community buildings and the construction of new publicly-accessible community buildings that serve high-needs, underserved communities across Canada. 

  • At least 10 percent of funding is allocated to projects serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including Indigenous populations in urban centres.

  • Provincial/territorial governments, municipal or regional governments, public sector bodies, not-for-profit, and Indigenous organizations interested in the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program are invited to apply on the Infrastructure Canada website. 

  • Applicants with large retrofit projects to existing community buildings or new community building projects with total eligible costs ranging from $3 million to $25 million were accepted through a competitive intake process which closed on July 6, 2021. A second intake is anticipated later in 2022, however, the date has not yet been determined. Details about the second intake will be published to the Infrastructure Canada – Green and Inclusive Community Buildings’ website as soon as they become available.

  • Announced in December 2020, Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan includes 64 new measures and $15 billion in investments towards a healthy environment and economy.

Associated links

Contacts

Kelly Ouimet
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities
343-552-3420
Kelly.Ouimet@iga-aig.gc.ca

Media Relations
City of Ottawa
613-580-2450
medias@ottawa.ca

Media Relations
Infrastructure Canada
613-960-9251
Toll free: 1-877-250-7154
media@infc.gc.ca
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