For weeks, I’ve been combing through every line of the draft budget to get more of what you’ve been asking for. And, since the by-election, I’ve been working with the mayor and staff to push Osgoode’s priorities forward – I’m proud of what we achieved.

In this budget Osgoode Ward will see the most road resurfacing for any ward in the City: 14% of the City’s road resurfacing budget will be spent here – that’ll cover 16 roads plus preserve several others. This year we’ll also replace 49 aging culverts, plus start design work on an additional 19. Remember – culvert renewals are an important first steps for future year road work!

For Community Facilities – $3.46 M goes toward the Metcalfe Community Centre and Larry Robinson Arena renovation, allowing the project which includes a septic system replacement, to start this spring.  I also freed up $2.5M to start the work on a community space in Vars.  

Buildings & Parks Renewal – $1.24M will go toward repairs (roofs, etc.) at local facilities and parks and now that frozen funds freed up from our ‘cash-in-lieu of parkland’ fund, additional park improvement projects will be able to go ahead this spring.

I also brought forward a motion to extend the “Play Free” program permanently – bringing free public skating to every rural arena in the City!

On Community Safety – Work will take place this year to design the new signal at Boundary & Mitch Owens.

The investment in paramedic services will continue to improve rural response times. And the investment in police will add real “boots on the ground” in rural Ottawa adding a much needed police presence to deter and enforce rules of the road, as well as deal with more complex and organized crimes – like car thefts. It also helps build up the South District Police team, which will reach its full capacity over the next few years, while continuing to fund our incredible community police team.

Bylaw services assured me they are getting what they need in this budget to stay on top of the Bank St. enforcement effort and to deal with the swath of other rural by-law challenges like dumping and inappropriate land-use.

I put forward a motion to get a costed plan in front of us this year to extend City water to Fire Station 73 (Vars) – a change which has the potential to dramatically improve rural fire operations and save tax dollars over time.

There is a major infrastructure gap affecting the whole City – for example, in our ward alone we have 128KMs of roadway that is considered in-need of repair and each KM of road costs about $850K- so while this budget does a lot, it can’t do everything and that has been very frustrating to grapple with.

These discussions don’t stop with the passing of this budget. Every day I hear from residents, clubs and community associations about your priorities and I’m always working to move the needle.

For highlights on the full City Budget including affordable housing, transit and other services see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR9rHdySPBE&t=30722s

Budget Highlight details:

Intersection Improvements:

• Boundary/Mitch Owens intersection – Signals – detailed design

Pavement Preservation:

• ANDERSON RD (OR 27) – FROM THUNDER RD TO PIPERVILLE RD (MILL & PAVE)
• MCVAGH RD – FROM DEVINE RD TO BURTON RD  (SLURRY SEAL)
• STONE SCHOOL RD – FROM 410 M EAST OF BANK ST TO JOHN QUINN RD (SLURRY SEAL)

Roads Renewal:

• ALDERGROVE WAY – FROM  OLD PRESCOTT RD TO CUTHBERT WAY
• BARFIELD RD – FROM MCKEOWN DR TO HIRAM DR
• BEN ROYAL AVE – FROM 55 M NORTH OF NICKERSON WAY TO ALDERGROVE WAY
• COKER ST – FROM MCKEOWN DR TO HIRAM DR
• GREELY LN – FROM PARKWAY RD TO MCKEOWN DR
• HIRAM DR – FROM PARKWAY RD TO COKER ST
• LEITRIM RD – FROM ANDERSON RD TO RUSSELL RD
• LIMEBANK RD – FROM MITCH OWENS RD (OR 8) TO RIDEAU RD
• MCKEOWN DR – FROM OLD PRESCOTT DR TO HIRAM DR
• MEADOW DR – FROM MEADOW DR TO BANK ST (N)
• MEADOW DR – FROM MEADOW DR TO PARKWAY RD
• NICKERSON WAY – FROM BEN ROYAL AVE TO REMINGTON WAY
• PARKWAY RD – FROM OLD PRESCOTT RD TO BANK ST
• PIG ALLEY – FROM PIG ALLEY TO PARKWAY RD
• RAY WILSON RD – FROM 1079 M EAST OF YORKS CORNERS RD TO 1281 M EAST OF YORKS CORNERS RD
• RIDEAU RD – FROM RIVER RD (OR 19) TO BOWESVILLE RD

Culvert replacements:

Community Space improvements:

• GREELY COMMUNITY CENTRE AND LIBRARY – REPLACE ROOF
• LARRY ROBINSON ARENA – RENOVATIONS AND REPLACEMENTS
• LIBRARY: VERNON – PAINT EXTERIOR WOOD ELEMENTS
• METCALFE ROADS GARAGE SALT DOME 01 – REPLACE ROOF
• OSGOODE CC AND STUART HOLMES ARENA – REPLACE ARENA DEHUMIDIFIER UNIT
• OSGOODE YOUTH CENTRE – RECOAT ROOF
• RURAL EAST COMMUNITY SPACE – VARS (initial investment $2.5M)

Parks projects:

• Additional funds were unlocked this week, stay tuned for full details

Important note about Bank St. (Hwy 31) from Snake Island to Belmeade. Rd:

This road is top priority for me – renewal work wasn’t scheduled to begin for 3-5 years, which is way too long given the condition of the road. Unfortunately given the amount of pre-engineering work necessary, the City won’t be able to construct any of the culverts in 2026.  However, they have advanced construction to 2027 for some of the culverts and a portion of the resurfacing – starting with Dalmeny Rd to Snake Island Rd. Bank St from Belmeade Rd to Dalmeny Rd will require additional design effort for the section through Vernon given sidewalk widths, parking, and drainage.  This work will start in early 2026 with construction in the following years, also to be coordinated with culvert renewals.

Road safety

One of our ongoing priorities is to ensure that line painting on our roads meets required standards to enhance driver safety and visibility, particularly throughout our rural areas. While this year’s schedule was impacted by other citywide commitments, we’ve already planned to complete all remaining rural roads first thing in spring 2026 as soon as operations resume.