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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Choosing our Future?

Choosing our Future is a joint initiative being undertaken by the City of Ottawa, the City of Gatineau and the National Capital Commission (NCC). Its goal is to help the National Capital Region prepare for the challenges of the 21st century and integrate concepts of sustainability, resiliency and livability into all aspects of regional planning and design.

What kind of long-term challenges will the National Capital Region need to address in the coming years?

The National Capital Region, like other cities and regions around the globe, will face a number of challenges, including:

  • Threats to the quality of our water, air and soil
  • Changing demographics, as our population ages and we welcome more workers from around the world
  • Technological change at home and at work
  • Ongoing economic change through globalization, but increased awareness of local business
  • Increasing energy consumption and scarcity, and a quest for renewable sources
  • Climate change that brings extreme rains and weather, warmer temperatures and other changes
  • Managing more of our waste through reducing, reusing and recycling materials
  • Potential disasters such as pandemics and floods
  • Food security and the need to ensure access to a supply of good quality, affordable food

How will Choosing our Future help us meet these challenges?

Choosing our Future will help us:

  • Shift from a reactive, problem-solving approach, to a community-driven style that mobilizes individual and community talents, skills and assets
  • Work towards reducing risks and adapting to sudden shocks or slow changes to our communities
  • Ensure that planning and development decisions made in the short-term are infused by a long-term vision
  • Protect resources by reinforcing and acting on sustainability principles
  • Develop an action plan and tools to help us become more sustainable

How is Choosing our Future different from previous Ottawa, Gatineau or NCC planning initiatives?

Choosing our Future is much broader. It considers our cities within the context of the National Capital Region, and will address a wider range of challenges and risks than has been considered to date. It will assess our energy use and vulnerability in a changing a world and recommend near-term strategies towards increased sustainability. The time frame is much longer – focusing on developing a 100-year vision and strategic directions for the next 30 years, to give us a full assessment of how decisions made today will affect us in the future. As well, it will result in more collaborative regional planning between Ottawa, Gatineau and the NCC.

Why proceed with this initiative? What are the expected benefits?

Thinking ahead is just common sense. In the foreseeable future we can expect to encounter a number of changes that will present opportunities and challenges. We need to be proactive, as opposed to reactive, in developing tools and strategies to address these challenges while balancing social, economic and environmental considerations both now and over the long-term.

How will this initiative help Ottawa, Gatineau and the NCC incorporate sustainability, resiliency and livability into their planning and decision-making?

Choosing our Future will lead to the creation of three plans for the National Capital Region:

  • Sustainability Plan, which will identify long-term sustainability goals and principles
  • Risk Mitigation and Prevention Plan, which will increase the region’s ability to withstand sudden changes like floods or extreme weather as well as slower changes such as climate change.
  • Community Energy Plan, which will recommend strategies for sustainable energy use.

As well, Choosing our Future will result in the development of a sustainability lens, a type of checklist or set of criteria, against which Ottawa, Gatineau and the NCC can assess the sustainability of their own plans, policies and strategies, and that will assist in everyday decision-making.

Once completed, these plans and the sustainability lens will provide the over-arching policies and guidelines that will inform the development of future strategic and community planning and design documents for the National Capital Region.

What are the sustainability goals that will be incorporated into Choosing our Future’s Sustainability Plan?

These goals haven’t been finalized yet. However, there is a set of six principles and 12 goals that have been developed in consultation with the community, experts in a variety of fields, and Ottawa, Gatineau and NCC staff. The goals are being further developed through consultation on detailed objectives in 2010. The final sustainability goals and principles will be presented to each partner’s governing body in 2011 with the Sustainability Plan.

What are the six sustainability principles?

Six broad principles were developed to guide actions and decision-making towards a more sustainable future:

  • Long-term thinking – we will consider the long-term consequences of our actions
  • Local and global – we are part of a global community, but will work towards greater self-reliance
  • One planet – we will live within the Earth’s capacity to support us
  • Integration of systems – we will recognize interconnections within our economy, society, culture and environment
  • Diversity and creativity – we recognize the value of diverse perspectives
  • Learning and co-operation – we will develop solutions to complex problems together

What are the 12 sustainability goals?

The 12 sustainability goals that support these principles are:

  • Health and quality of life - All residents enjoy a high quality of life and contribute to community well-being
  • Economic Prosperity - Economic prosperity supports residents, community well-being, and ecological health
  • Culture and Identity - Cultural vitality and diversity contribute to the region’s strong identity
  • Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health - Ecosystems are healthy, protected and support biodiversity
  • Governance and Decision-Making - Decision-making is open, informed and inclusive
  • Climate Change - The region is carbon neutral and adapts to a changing climate
  • Energy - Energy is used efficiently and supplied from green, renewable sources
  • Connectivity and Mobility - Walking, cycling, and transit are residents’ first choices for transportation
  • Materials and Solid Waste - Waste is reduced towards zero
  • Water and Wastewater - Water resources are cherished, conserved and protected
  • Housing - Housing options are green, healthy and meet the needs of the whole community
  • Food and Agriculture - The local food system is sustainable and provides residents with healthy and affordable food

Can we afford to focus on sustainability, without considering the impact on the economy?

Sustainability is not about choosing between the environment and the economy, or even the environment and social issues. Ottawa, Gatineau and the NCC recognize that short- and long-term economic success is important for us to achieve our social and environmental sustainability goals. As a result, the Sustainability Plan will move beyond exclusively environmental goals and include those relating to economic prosperity, quality of life, culture and identity, mobility, health and governance.

Once finalized, how will these goals and principles be used?

By defining our region’s goals and principles, Ottawa, Gatineau and the NCC are creating a path to sustainability. The next step is identifying the strategies and actions to move toward that vision. Depending on what we choose to do, the future can look very different. We will create three different versions of the future that illustrate the results of the actions we take today and the path we choose.

How is the cost of the Choosing our Future initiative shared among the partners?

Choosing our Future has a total budget of just over $1 million. The funding is provided by the City of Ottawa ($400,000); the Federal Green Municipal Fund ($350,000); City of Gatineau ($100,000); NCC ($100,000); J. W. McConnell Foundation/The Natural Step ($75,000); and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation ($35,000).

What has happened so far with the initiative?

  • 2004 – The City of Ottawa joined forces with the City of Gatineau and the NCC to host the conference Choosing our Future: Planning for Long-term Community Sustainability
  • 2006 – The Tripartite National Planning Committee, consisting of representatives of Ottawa, Gatineau and the NCC, agreed that the National Capital Region must plan and function together as a sustainable economic and environmental unit.
  • 2008 – Initial project funding received from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to support the visioning and design of long-term strategies for the National Capital Region.
  • September 2008 – Internal and external resource groups of Ottawa, Gatineau and NCC staff, as well as business, academic and community leaders, created to assist in the shaping of the project.
  • October 2008 - Developed an initial set of sustainability goals and principles.
  • December 2008 – The Foresight Workshop explored the implications of a range of external forces such as climate change, globalisation, technology transformation and demographic shifts on the National Capital Region. The Design Charrette, in the following days, reviewed the outcomes and applied these ideas to the physical world.
  • May 2009 – Received funding from the Green Municipal Fund, administered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada. With that funding in place, the project was formally launched and a website for the project – choosingourfuture.ca - was created.
  • Summer/Fall 2009 - Capacity building workshops were held to help residents and staff develop a common understanding of sustainability.
  • September 2009 – A week of sustainability presentations culminated in an all-day hands-on event that invited all residents to help shape a long-term vision for Canada’s Capital Region. The Forum included presentations from nationally recognized leaders who explored several sustainability issues and concepts.
  • December 2009 – Ottawa, Gatineau and NCC staff participated in workshops to identify the region’s challenges and assets.
  • February 2010 – Ottawa, Gatineau and NCC staff participated in a workshop to identify the region’s objectives and key indicators to evaluate progress as well as in another workshop on scenarios and strategies.
  • February 2010 - At a tripartite meeting, top officials from the NCC, City of Gatineau and City of Ottawa received an update on the project’s progress and key achievements

What are the project’s next major milestones?

There are several milestones coming up as we move through 2010:

  • June 2010 - Sustainability Summit: Community leaders and municipal and federal staff in the National Capital Region speak to best practices in sustainability that will help achieve our sustainability goals
  • September 11, 2010 - The Futures Forum will kick-off the 2010 Sustainable CitiesPLUS Biennial Conference. International delegates will provide a unique and insightful review of sustainability, resiliency and livability issues and best practices in their communities.

The project team will also be meeting with interested groups to talk about the project’s goals and strategies to achieve them.

In 2011, the stage will be set for broad public dialogue:

  • Three scenarios for the future of the National Capital Region will show how best practices and other strategies can combine over the long term to achieve a more sustainable future.
  • Near-term strategies will be identified for the partners and the community to achieve the long-term goals.
  • The sustainability, Risk Mitigation and Prevention, and Community Energy Plans will be presented to the public for feedback.
  • Ottawa and Gatineau City Council and the NCC Board will consider the draft plans and public feedback on the plans.

How can National Capital Region residents get involved in Choosing our Future?

There are a number of ways residents can get involved in Choosing our Future:

  • Contact us and make arrangements to have the Choosing our Future project team meet with your group for discussion or presentation. Just give us a call at 3-1-1 or send an E-mail to info@choosingourfuture.ca. Sign up for the Choosing our Future newsletter, for project updates several times each year.
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