Enhancing Student and Staff Success Through Stewardship of Facilities
Enhancing Student and Staff Success Through Stewardship of Facilities
The Planning and Facilities Department contributes to student and staff success and the quality of Catholic education in its stewardship of the Board’s facilities.
This department effectively provides enrollment projections, school planning strategies, new school site acquisitions, school boundary maps, new school design and construction, school renovations and additions, all aspects of facility maintenance, operations and renewal services, as well as Community Use of Schools. Our dedicated team strives for excellence in the stewardship of resources and in all facets of the services provided to ensure a clean, safe and healthy environment for students, staff and school communities.
Our Family is Growing
Our Family is Growing
We’re growing again! The Ministry of Education approved funding for five different OCSB capital projects. The investment will add three new schools to the OCSB family and a much-needed addition to St. Philip Catholic School and Guardian Angels Catholic School.
The five approved projects are:
1) Fernbank High School (Grades 7-12)
A new OCSB Grade 7-12 secondary school with a capacity of 1,439 students located on an 18-acre site at the corner of Cope Drive and Atlas Terrace in the Fernbank community.
2) Mer Bleue Elementary School (Grades K-6 and a Child Care Centre)
A new JK-6 elementary school with a capacity of 507 students, along with a childcare centre is planned to be located on a 6.4-acre site on Jerome Jodoin Drive, south of Sweetclover Way, and will be co-located with a municipal park.
3) Fernbank North Elementary School (Grades K-6 and a Child Care Centre)
A new JK-6 elementary school with a capacity of 507 students, along with a childcare centre, will be located on a 6.7-acre site at the corner of Honeylocust Avenue and Triangle Street in the northern area of Fernbank.
4) St. Philip Catholic Elementary School addition
A new two-storey, 12-classroom addition to St. Philip Elementary School will provide much-needed instructional space to accommodate growth from surrounding residential development in the Richmond community. The project will also address the need for additional physical education space and HVAC upgrades.
5) Guardian Angels Catholic Elementary School addition
A new 6-classroom addition to Guardian Angels Elementary School will provide much-needed instructional space to accommodate growth from surrounding residential developments in the Stittsville community.
Capital Plan – Building Schools for Our Students
Capital Plan – Building Schools for Our Students
It has been an OCSB practice to produce a comprehensive multi-year Capital Plan every five years that provides long-term enrolment and capital planning projections and identifies general timelines for new schools, additions, portable structures, accommodation review processes and decisions. The document provides school-by-school enrolment projections and analysis of all planning areas within the Board. The objective of the Plan is to maintain, throughout the Board’s jurisdiction, sufficient schools in appropriate locations to serve the current and future educational facility requirements of our student population. Typically, the Plan focuses on the first five years as a basis for prioritizing requests for Ministry funding.
Energy Conservation And Management in Our Facilities
We have a highly successful Energy Management Plan in place, helping us reduce energy use and save money. In fact, we were named the top-performing school board in Ontario for three consecutive years! Our efforts to reduce energy use have saved $31,548,388 in avoided costs to date.
Energy Conservation And Management in Our Facilities
We have a highly successful Energy Management Plan in place, helping us reduce energy use and save money. In fact, we were named the top-performing school board in Ontario for three consecutive years! Our efforts to reduce energy use have saved $31,548,388 in avoided costs to date.
Keeping Our Schools Safe And Clean
Keeping Our Schools Safe And Clean
The Maintenance and Operations division of the Planning and Facilities Department provides a full complement of quality maintenance, operational and custodial functions. Over 92 facilities totaling over 5.5 million square feet of educational space are served – That’s over 550 acres of space!
With the help of federal and provincial government funding, our Planning and Facilities Team are continuously implementing various improvements to optimize the air quality in our schools. The focus continues to be on ensuring that all the schools have high-functioning ventilation systems. Read about recent efforts to improve air quality in our schools.
Green Certified cleaning products are used in our schools and Board facilities, changing our school culture and reducing our carbon footprint. These products that work to sanitize students’ desks and clean hallway floors are developed using renewable resources that are non-toxic and biodegradable. They also have very low fragrance levels and are extremely mild to the skin. The OCSB introduced the cost-effective products to help promote a healthy work environment for staff and students, and address the many individual and systemic concerns related to chemical use in society.
Education Development Charges (EDC) By-Law
The Education Act empowers a school board to enact a by-law implementing Education Development Charges (EDC) on residential and commercial development in its jurisdiction where such development would result in an increase in education land costs. The primary purpose in implementing an EDC by-law is to provide the Board with a source of funding to purchase and provide municipal services to future school sites to accommodate students generated from new development who cannot be accommodated in existing facilities. The City of Ottawa collects EDCs, on behalf of the Board, at building permit stage on new residential and non-residential development.
Notice of Passage: EDC By-law No. 01-2024
Please be advised that the Ottawa Catholic School Board passed the successor EDC By-law No. 01-2024 on March 26, 2024, in accordance with the Education Act. By-law No. 01-2024 will commence April 1, 2024, and will have a term of five years unless repealed or rescinded earlier.
The education development charges have been calculated in accordance with the legislative rate ‘cap’ imposed under the legislation.
Effective April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2029
- $799 per dwelling unit
- $0.47 per square foot of gross floor area of non-residential development
See fee changes year-over-year.
Related Documents
- Notice of Passage of EDC By-law No. 01- 2024 (Ottawa Citizen March 30, 2024)
- Board Report Education Development Charges By-law No. 01-2024 – Adoption Recommendations
- Education Development Charges By-law No. 01-2024
- EDC Pamphlet May 2024
- Education Development Charges Background Study
- 2024 Education Development Charges Renewal Update
Community Planning and Facility Partnerships
Our Community Planning and Facility Partnership policy guides our efforts to share our school facilities with outside community partners. This benefits students and the community, as well as optimizes the use of public assets owned by the OCSB. The Ministry of Education released guidelines to assist school boards in establishing facility partnerships in new and existing school facilities.
Bidding on OCSB Construction and Renovation Projects
The Government of Ontario’s “Broader Public Sector” (BPS) Procurement Directive (2011) applies to our construction and tendering practices. For projects over $100,000 in value, firms must be pre-qualified in order to bid. Firms who wish to apply for pre-qualification status may do so on an annual basis – for information, please email us at Planning@ocsb.ca. The current list of pre-qualified contractors, under six broad construction sectors, is as follows:
The Board’s Procurement Procedures Manual and policy can be found in the Purchasing Department’s section.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about Planning and Facilities, please contact us at 613-224-4455 ext 2322 or by fax at 613-224-2353 or send us an email at Planning@ocsb.ca.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about Planning and Facilities, please contact us at 613-224-4455 ext 2322 or by fax at 613-224-2353 or send us an email at Planning@ocsb.ca.
