At this week’s Emergency Preparedness and Protective Services Committee meeting, all items before us were carried, including important annual updates on public safety and by-law services, a motion calling for a future review of Ottawa’s Noise By-law, and a motion to improve the City’s hardscaping contractor licensing rules.

We received the Public Safety Service 2025 Annual Report, which highlighted the launch of Ottawa public emergency notification app Ottawa Alert via “Alertable”, expanded emergency preparedness training, and ongoing work to strengthen the City’s readiness during extreme weather and other emergencies.

We also received the 2025 By-law and Regulatory Services Annual Report, which showed strong response times, progress on property standards and zoning enforcement, improvements to accessible taxi service, and continued modernization of parking and licensing systems. Notably, there was a 263% rise in reports for dumping, (which didn’t come as a surprise to me given the amount of garbage we’re seeing thrown into rural ditches). I asked staff to share more data than what was available in the report to better understand where dumping is occurring across the City and to inform options for mitigation.  

Committee also carried a motion asking staff to consider a review of Ottawa’s Noise By-law, including how it compares with provincial environmental noise guidelines, as part of the next term of Council’s by-law review work.

In addition, Committee carried a motion to make targeted changes to the hardscaping contractor licensing rules. While I did not support this licensing regime as a whole when it was introduced this fall, I was pleased to support this motion because it was responsive to requests from professional contractors to clarify the rules and help reduce unnecessary costs for small businesses.

Thank you to everyone who continues to share your concerns and experiences. Your feedback helps shape the work we do at committee and at Council, and I will continue advocating for fair, practical, and responsive city services that support safe, healthy, and livable communities.