Ottawa enters a new era with a million people. But we have to prepare now for the next million.

So Ottawa has reached a million people, a critical mass that creates a mid-size city, one that has to be affordable to ensure we continue to retain and recruit a talented workforce, that offers up a quality of life not found in many places in the world. 

People of all ages choose the National Capital Region because of lifestyle choices, housing affordability, the schools, culture, safety -- the proximity of rivers, lakes, and natural playgrounds right in  our backyard. 

Ottawa is a natural beacon to young people looking to live, work and play, but there is steep competition among cities our size to attract and retain the next generation of a talented workforce. We have to ensure Ottawa's new Official Plan welcomes and ushers in the next million people.  And we have to plan for that today.

The Capital 2020 Task Force advocates for a few inter-related projects that we consider urgent priorities for a thriving National Capital Region: 

• Ensure Ottawa City Council gets the new Official Plan right by balancing the intensification and urban boundary expansion 
• Clean up and redevelop LeBreton Flats
• Develop a federal employment campus in Orleans
• Re-establish a link on the Prince of Wales Bridge from Gatineau to Ottawa;
• Make the ByWard Market safe, accessible and dynamic;
• Develop the new Civic Hospital as one of the best health centres in the world. 

Please click on Good Reading, in the main menu, for our position statements on these priorities.