A new generation of cultural planning has arrived.  Ottawa is ready to join it.

Culture animates our lives while generating significant social benefits and economic impact. Be it film or festivals, heritage talks and walks, rural museums, indigenous art, ethnocultural community celebrations, neighbourhood pop-up concerts, major cultural venues and more – culture plays a big role in our city.

A Liveable City for All: A New Cultural Roadmap for Ottawa 2019-22 maps out the path to an Ottawa where all citizens can take part in Ottawa’s culture scene.

The Ottawa Cultural Alliance facilitated the creation of this new community-driven Cultural Roadmap for 2019-2022 that recommends the strategy and priorities for culture. The results are also intended to inform Ottawa City Council’s planning for the next four years.

Thanks to the dedication of our community, we can all have confidence that the Roadmap is reflective of what our community needs and wants for the future of culture in Ottawa.  Members of Ottawa’s cultural sector and community at large contributed significant time, thought and effort to its development over the course of several months. 

• Independent consultants, overseen by Steering and Advisory Committees, completed research and data on the cultural sector and consulted the community.
• To help ensure that as many communities as possible contribute to the Roadmap, the Ottawa Cultural Alliance engaged Synapcity to conduct public consultations across the city and facilitate community workshops at the Ottawa Cultural Summit.
• A Cultural Summit was held in mid-January to facilitate community dialogue on key issues and strategic priorities to be included in the New Cultural Roadmap for 2019-2022.
• The document Charting the Course was prepared for Summit attendees. This ensured that everyone at the Summit had the same information about the input to-date towards the Roadmap.
• An online survey offered a chance to contribute for those who weren’t at the Ottawa Cultural Summit, or who attended and had additional thoughts.
• The draft Roadmap was posted for validation by the community in June 2019, to help ensure that the final Roadmap truly reflects what our community needs and wants.
• Results from the validation survey were analysed and the new Roadmap updated and released to the public in August 2019.

The Ottawa Cultural Alliance especially wishes to thank the following people who played a key part in ensuring that the voices of our community were included, and who helped guide and shape the Roadmap:

Comprised of Ottawa Cultural Alliance member organization leaders and board members, the  Steering Committee oversaw the work:

Arts Network Ottawa: Victoria Steele, Cassandra Olsthoorn, Stella Ronan, Kim Lymburner, Lisa Cruikshank

Capital Heritage Connexion: Catherine Lindquist, Kelly Eyamie

Heritage Ottawa: David Jeanes, Carolyn Quinn

Ottawa Arts Council: Peter Honeywell, Nicole Milne, Georgette Houle

Ottawa Festival Network: Carole Anne Piccinin, Peter MacDonald

Ottawa Museum Network: Diana Carter, Tracey Donaldson

An Advisory Committee of community representatives strengthened the consultation and Roadmap development processes:

• Barbara McInnes, community foundations, philanthropy – Chair
• Nicole Fortier, Société franco-ontarienne du patrimoine et de l’histoire d’Orléans – Vice Chair
• Alexandra Badzak, Ottawa Art Gallery
• Julea Boswell, Propeller Dance
• Christos Pantieras, visual artist, educator, cultural events
• Nik Ives-Allison, Ottawa Music Industry Coalition
• Christopher Blake, theatre, management and administration
• Kelly Neal, Ottawa International Animation Festival
• Christina Ruddy, Algonquin Way Cultural Centre
• Julie Harris, historian, cultural heritage
• Laila Djiwa, heritage, cultural development
• Chantal Nadeau, La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins

Rigorous requirements for independent research, community input, subject matter expertise, writing, editing and project management were met by a roster contributing consultants:

Margery Leach, Project Manager for the Ottawa Cultural Alliance

Lord Cultural Resources and Nordicity Group Limited

• Brad King, Sarah Hill (Lord Cultural Resources) supported by Eric Dubeau, Christine Tremblay
• Mila Dechef-Tweddle (Nordicity)

Hill Strategies Research Inc.

• Kelly Hill, Alix MacLean

Synapcity

• Laine Johnson, Ariela Summit, Stephane Pressault, Laurel Mackenzie, Taylor Howarth, Tyler Boyce

CAM Consulting and A. Adair and Associates

• Brian McCurdy, Annalee Adair

Village PR

• Heather Badenoch

Proctor Group Consulting

• Cate Proctor

Deanna Young, Editor

Kate Cartwright Designs

• Kate Cartwright

The reports of the Ottawa Cultural Research Group (‘Counting on Culture: Impact and Indicators in Ottawa’), and the Ottawa Cultural Tourism Working Group (Cultural Tourism Pilot Project) were also important sources of information.

The Ottawa Cultural Alliance gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the City of Ottawa for this Roadmap. We extend thanks for the support, input and flexibility of staff from the City of Ottawa, especially members of the Arts Heritage and Development Unit.

*  “Cultural sector” refers to organizations, artists and workers in the arts, festival, heritage and cultural fields, inclusive of people from a diversity of ancestries, abilities, ages, countries of origin, cultures, genders, incomes, languages, races and sexual orientations.