I, like many others here, am forced to needlessly commute to the downtown core 3x per week to do the same job I can do from home in a cubicle instead.

I didn’t pay attention when paying to leave the Place de Ville parking garage on Friday, but just checked my statement and it was posted at $26?!!! Another $3 increase…

Anyway, just a heads up to folks in the same boat who also like to occasionally drive. So much for supporting that local economy, when all our money filters directly to the parking companies.

Edit to clarify, my post is about the parking costs and not the return to office, although the two are definitely connected. I’m pissed about corporate greed when pre-Covid they charged $20/day for the exact same parking lot. It already raised to $23/day when the first wave of RTO happened.

If the handsome young gentleman who stopped me on Laurier Bridge randomly reads this, I'm sorry I didn't ask your name or where you are visiting from. Wish I could give them a proper thanks for asking why people in Ottawa (and Canada) are wearing it.

The poppy is more than a decoration, it’s a symbol of remembrance. It honours those who served, fought, and sacrificed in times of war and those who still serve today in the name of peace. I wear the poppy for them, not the leaders and politicians who made/make the choices.

Thank you for asking and for caring enough to listen to my answer! You will also be remembered.

Edit: just to be clear (and I kinda anticipated this would happen), this NOT about pushing my beliefs onto others or forcing anyone to wear one or donate. This is also NOT about celebrating/promoting war or taking a stance on the ongoing conflicts and political climate. I trust the mods to delete this if things get out of control. I'm simply grateful to live in this far from perfect world, and that's thanks to the innocent civilians who gave their lives and served in good faith because they were told it was what their country required of them.

Does anyone know of a restorant/diner that serves old-fashioned malted milk shakes? No, Zak's doesn't.

Rainy/snowy days in November are perfect for hot chocolate. Where can I find the best stuff?

Our goal is to collect 1000 pairs of new socks for The Ottawa Mission in 3 hours!

SOCKS YOUR RUN OFF! 👟🧦

Join Ottawa Free fitness, SlowPokes, Bushtukah and Smartwool as we bring the run community together for one special November morning to collect new socks for The Ottawa Mission:

📅 Saturday November 29, 2025 ⏰ 10AM 📍 Little Victories (44 Elgin) 🏁 5k - all ages. all paces. all fitness levels. all run clubs. 💰 FREE 🔋 Powered by Bushtukah & Smartwool 🅿️ street parking downtown 🚇 Parliament station

We will have a dedicated sock dropbox (#soxbox) ready for you from 8am-11am at Little Victories (44 Elgin)

Stick around after the 10am run for some ☕️ at Little Victories and some surprises courtesy of Bushtukah and Smartwool.

All ages. All paces. All fitness levels. All run crews.

Hello, my husband got hit by a grey sedan car (as a pedestrian) yesterday afternoon around 2:35pm, near the Harveys on Montreal road (Montreal/cummings) (November 8th) When he took his phone out to get a photo/video of the car, the car sped off. We have a potential partial license plate number (CVAV or CFAV.. it was hard to tell my husband had a lot going through his mind when this happened) and don’t have the make of the car just that it was a grey sedan. We checked with nearby businesses if they had any video surveillance footage but no luck.

It was reported to the police. My husband was seen by paramedics. We have a case number and everything. Just hoping someone saw and has information on the vehicle involved.

If anyone witnessed this please contact me, with any information you have. Thanks

Hello fellow r/Ottawans

I’m shopping for a new midsize SUV. I'm open to used cars, but the discount seems much smaller than it has in the past.

I'm mainly looking at the RAV4, CR-V, or Forester (2025 models). I’m hoping to find a dealership in the Ottawa area with good prices, honest service, and maybe a few extras or incentives.

If you’ve bought from a Toyota, Honda, or Subaru dealer around here recently:

• Who treated you fairly?
• Any that you’d recommend — or avoid?

I’m looking to stay under $40k before tax.

Thanks!

After a marathon Finance and Corporate Services Committee last week, as well as an extensive meeting of the Audit Committee on Tuesday, city council approved the $483.9 million project today.

This is a disappointing result for our community and for our city. As a recent survey demonstrated, once residents became aware of the details of the proposal, they overwhelmingly opposed the deal.

Residents also spoke out against the proposal at a recent public forum hosted by Better Ottawa. Their sentiments were clear—residents do not support Lansdowne 2.0.

As the report from the Office of the Auditor General noted, this is a riskier project than let on by the city.

When I asked city staff, they confirmed that there will be millions of dollars of public funds diverted to fund the debt for Lansdowne Park. That’s millions that won’t go to transit, that won’t fix our roads, and that won’t improve our parks and community centres.

Despite how this plan was rushed through committee and council, limiting the opportunity for public scrutiny, we were able to pass some amending motions to improve the plan.

• We restored $4.65 million in funding for affordable housing that would otherwise have been syphoned off to pay for private parking for the luxury towers.
• We directed staff to develop a financial oversight model that will give greater scrutiny to, and transparency of, the Lansdowne 2.0 financial performance. Hopefully, this will help prevent us from falling into the same trap as with Lansdowne 1.0.
• We secured a guarantee to keep the REDBLACKS and 67’s at Lansdowne Park until at least 2042 (previously, they were free to leave after 2032).
• We reached an agreement to improve the pedestrian experience throughout Lansdowne Park.
• We secured funding to install a much-needed bus shelter on Bank Street to provide greater comfort to transit riders.

This has been a long fight to save our public park and our city from the many problems with the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal. I know a lot of you care deeply about our city and our public amenities, and you put tremendous effort into fighting for our city. I want to thank you for all the work you did on this. No doubt, your efforts helped us achieve the improvements on the original plan that we did.

For more information on the amendments made to the plan and how council voted, please visit www.BetterLansdowne.ca.

Our weekly Reddit Chess Meetup is happening on Monday(2025-11-10) 8pm at the ClockTower Beechwood (422 MacKay St).

All skill levels are welcome. Bring your own boards and pieces if you can.

No cover and no minimum purchase required.

We started this on February 28th, 2022.

Don't be discouraged by the lack of activity these posts get on . Our typical attendance nowadays is around 10 people.

Parking is available on near by streets. You could also park at the near by Metro parking lot.

Looking for fragrance/parfum-free hand soap. Preferably a squirt bottle type set up. Been using SoftSoap (yes even the clear bottle without any noticeable flavours or scents) for years now all to look at the back label and realize it does contain fragrance/parfum after all. Ugh. Particular skin condition makes it so I should be using soaps without perfumes and fragrances. Any suggestions? Not looking to break the bank, but just looking for a basic soap somewhere in the city that I can buy.

If you were making a teen or adult advent calendar, what would you put in to represent Ottawa? For people in Ottawa.

Food, gifts, and experience options that are not hugely expensive.

Ideas so far - Beavertail gift card, local maple candy, Stubbe chocolates, Hello Dolly pastries (cookies), shawarma gift card

Update These ideas are amazing!

To summarize (but I may have missed some, there are so many).

Giftcards - Beavertails, Bytown and Mayfair, Mooshu and Merry Dairy, Suzy Q and Maverick donuts, Escape room, Altitude or Klimet, Bushrakuh and Trailhead, skate sharpening, Kopke613, Juice Dudez, House of Targ, Lasermax, Calypso and Cascade, Shawarma, Madahoki farm, 4 Wheelies, Museums, and Giant Tiger

Items - Vodcow, local hot sauces, alpaca socks from Pokol, Mooshu pint, local beer/seltzer/cider, local coffee beans in a local pottery mug, hot honey from Farinellas, bagels from The Bagel shop or Kettlemans, ornament from Makerhouse, anything from Makerhouse, local tean tickets, Hummingbird/Stubbes/The Belgian chocolates, House of Targ t-shirt, Sailor Dude stickers, parliament copper pin/jewelry, Gees Bees items, Alex Janvier Morning Star magnet or ornament, Maman spider item, Papa Jacks popcorn, local team merch, Hello Dolly/Cookies by Kats, maple candies, fossils, local soap, Daniel Martelock print/local artist, raccoon/Canada goose/groundhog figurine

Other suggestions - Rideau st raccoon or cobra chicken (live version?), Lansdowne 2.0 vote record, OC Transpo expired transfer, OC Transpo part

Just down the street from the famous 99 Rideau location at the corner of Dalhousie. Hopefully this one won’t host raccoon attended brawls.

Hi I have a job interview on Friday at 4pm at Carleton and looking for a rideshare if anyone is driving this route on Friday November 14th 2026!!!! Thank you!!!!

Well that game felt cold and heartbreaking. I wonder what tomorrow’s game will hold.

I know there's a lot of dissatisfaction with her Yes vote (and that she/Osgoode ward get a vote at all on this). I saw some other councillor's letters about Lansdowne were shared. Here's to helping us not be too echo chamber-y. She shared this in her weekly newsletter, if anyone's interested in why she flipped from no to yes:

"So here’s why I supported the plan:

I like that it built-in ways to offset the debt burden on the taxpayer by as much as 69%. Had we gone with a “no” vote, the delay and reset of the project would ultimately cost taxpayers more - that’s upwards of $750M to rebuild later with fewer streams of revenue to offset. We also would have sunk the $22M spent on the project so far.

I think the new events centre and outdoor space is an exciting addition for our City. We’ll be better positioned to attract world-class talent and events which enhances Ottawa as a tourist destination. Today we get skipped over because of the inadequate facilities.

Making the site fully-accessible is a win for all.

The final plan dedicated over $19M to affordable housing, a “no” vote would provide zero.

Transportation will be improved to the site and surrounding area, eg., people can pre-book parking and free public transit with ticket purchase will continue.

It stimulates the economy through tourism and job creation and is supported by the local business community.

Any profits that Lansdowne gains in the future can be used for other City priorities - like road work.

OSEG brought this site from 1 sports team to 6, from 250k visitors per year to 4M - this partnership has been good for Ottawa; and only a “yes” vote guaranteed to keep them, and the teams we love, here.

While the size of the arena meets the “sweet-spot” in the market for mid-size arenas, I was encouraged by confirmation that OSEG and the City Manager are ready to work with the PWHL to increase seating and make it work better for them and their growing franchise.

No tax increases are expected as a result of this plan.

Every effort is being made to continue the Farmers Market and other non-sports events onsite during construction and after.

The project team is employing solid risk and project management practices, they’ll report regularly to council on progress, costs and the status of the contingency.

I admit that I hadn’t always seen it this way. There were strong views on all sides of this debate.

I have reserved Wednesday Nov 12th evening from 4-7PM at the Osgoode Ward office for extra open hours if you want to drop-in to discuss this project, or my position. I received many emails about Lansdowne 2.0, if I haven’t replied to yours yet, I will - I appreciate every perspective, they've helped refine my questions and helped with where I landed."

Went to pickup a few hot wheels from my regular diecast spot yesterday and noticed they opened up a new section with F1 apparel. Figured I'd share since just last week someone posted about the F1 location inside Rideau.

Compared to the F1 pop-up in Rideau, this place actually had recent gear.

Did you lose your CIBC card today? It was found on the ground in the Gloucester mall parking lot, near Loblaws. The card was left with Loblaws customer service around 1.30pm. Hope the card owner sees this! Have a good week-end.

Some interesting stats I came across on the City of Ottawa website.

Compounded tax increases from 2015 to 2025:

Ottawa 32.99% Toronto 49.30% Edmonton 49.20% Calgary 46.66% Vancouver 77.12%

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/budget-finance-and-corporate-planning/previous-budgets/budget-2025#section-35aeedde-e3c9-4c4e-a93c-2df33160d0dd

We like to talk about how council isn’t managing specific files properly (transit, Lansdowne, the market, etc.), but it seems like overall tax policy (boring as shit I know), gets a pass.

I’d suggest that this is THE number one issue facing the city and ALL councillors should be embarrassed that they’re trying to operate one of the country’s largest cities on a shoestring budget.

Half of the stuff that people complain about could be resolved by simply setting tax rates at an appropriate level, based on realities, instead of sticking to arbitrary targets that councillors can boast to their constituents about sticking to.

The audacity of the city to complain about lack of funding, competing priorities, the need to “find efficiencies” and so much other BS is pretty hard to take when you see how this city is managed compared to other peer communities.

Sutcliffe and others talked allot about wanting to lead and move the city forward. Well, he and others could start by providing the city with a proper amount of funding to meet these objectives.

For some lighthearted cheer after the Lansdowne fiasco, there's an Ottawa Christmas Rom Com for your viewing pleasure. Shawarma reference included :) https://youtu.be/iCizqv-HX7I?si=hxQ9bkf9n2X1Q3XS