Planning and Facilities Department
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.
The OCSB family is growing
We received $25 million to fund two new Catholic Elementary Schools. The new schools will serve the growing communities of Fernbank (Kanata/Stittsville) and Barrhaven South.
This funding represents over a thousand new pupil spaces and will provide for close to eighty more licenced childcare spots between the two new schools. The new school in Fernbank will allow us to address population growth in the Stittsville-Kanata area of the city. This new Catholic Elementary School will be built on a site located at the southwest corner of Defense Street and Cope Drive.
The new Barrhaven South Catholic Elementary School will be located in South Nepean in the northern portion of the Half Moon Bay Community, at a site to be purchased.
The two new schools are scheduled to open in September 2023.
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.
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!
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 Amending By-Law No. 02-2019
Please be advised that the Ottawa Catholic School Board passed an Amendment to Education Development Charges By-Law No. 01-2019 on May 14, 2019, pursuant to O. Reg. 55/19, which was enacted by the Province of Ontario on March 29, 2019, and allows for annual increases in EDC rates for qualified school boards. The amendment to EDC By-law No. 01-2019 will commence May 19, 2019, 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. As such, the non-residential rates will be phased in over a two-stage process as follows:
Effective May 19, 2019 to March 31, 2020
- $499 per dwelling unit
- $0.36 per square foot of gross floor area of non-residential development
Effective April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2024
- $499 per dwelling unit
- $0.37 per square foot of gross floor area of non-residential development
Subsequent Documents
- View Notice of Passage of Amendment to EDC By-Law (Ottawa Citizen – June 3, 2019)
- View EDC Amending By-Law No, 02-2019
- View Ministry of Education Memorandum 2019:B111, Interim Changes to EDC rates
- View EDC information pamphlet
- View Notice of Passage EDC By-Law No. 01-2019 (Ottawa Citizen – April 1, 2019)
- View Education Development Charges By-Law No. 01-2019
- View Education Development Charges Background Study and Review of Education Development Charges Policies Document, January 2019
- View Ministry of Education Memorandum 2018:B15, Temporary Cap on EDC rates
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.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s joint four-board Community Planning and Facility Partnership meeting has been cancelled. Questions related to facility partnership opportunities with our school board can be directed to planning@ocsb.ca.
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 seven broad construction sectors, are as follows:
The Board’s Procurement Procedures Manual and policy can be found in the Purchasing Department’s section.
Contact Us
Planning and Facilities Department
Phone: 613-224-4455 ext 2322
Fax: 613-224-2353
E-mail: Planning@ocsb.ca