Update on city recreation, cultural programs, facility and park rentals

OTTAWA – Due to the current Provincial COVID-19 restrictions, the City of Ottawa will be cancelling its regular summer recreation and cultural programming and many of its rental agreements.

Starting July 6, summer day camps will take place in a redesigned format to follow health guidelines.

 All registrations for the regular summer programming, including swimming lessons, art classes, general interest courses, certification courses, skating lessons and fitness classes, will be automatically refunded. Meanwhile, the city is considering opportunities for offering other recreation and cultural programming in a modified format.

Indoor and outdoor facility rentals

 All city facility rentals for indoor events of 100 or more people and outdoor events of 250 or more people will be cancelled for July. 

The city will consider rentals of indoor space for up to 10 people on a case-by-case basis. Sports fields can be booked for events of up to 10 people, under the condition that sports teams and clubs follow the guidelines of their governing organizations.

The city will remind rental agreement holders for indoor events of 11 to 99 people and outdoor events of 11 to 249 people that their event may be cancelled if current Provincial restrictions remain as they are now.

Arenas

• All existing arena bookings from July 1 to Aug. 3 have been cancelled. The following organizations may rebook ice time at select arenas to train amateur or professional athletes, in groups of 10 or less:
• A national sport organization funded by Sport Canada or a member club of such an organization;
• A provincial sport or multi-sport organization recognized by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture or a member club of such an organization;
• A professional sport league or a member club of such a league.

The city will be reopening some ice pads in July, based on demand. As part of the modified return to ice process, City staff will issue a notice to all current permit holders to reapply for available ice time in July.  Only organizations that meet the Provincial requirements and hold valid insurance will be considered.

Memberships to gyms and fitness centres

All City of Ottawa fitness memberships expiring in the month of July will be cancelled and clients will receive a prorated refund. Memberships expiring after July 31 will be re-evaluated at a later time.

For up-to-date information on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, visit ottawa.ca/covid19 or call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-9656).