Ottawa’s community garden program needs formal mandate, centralized operations: city staff

Ottawa’s Community Services Committee is to discuss several recommendations on Tuesday to improve community-led gardens and green initiatives, Photo by File photo /GETTY IMAGESArticle content

The City of Ottawa’s Community Services Committee is to discuss several recommendations on Tuesday to improve community-led gardens and green initiatives, including a recommendation to formalize the program through a city-wide mandate.

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According to a report to committee members, city staff contracted an external consulting firm, Hoffman Hayes, to lead an internal review to develop best practices for community-led initiatives on city land. The firm specializes in design consultations for urban agriculture and gardens and community development, according to its website.

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The review found that decision-making authority, long-term strategy and program oversight for community-led garden and green initiatives are decentralized across several departments. This means the program relied heavily on external community partners to advocate for municipal garden development with limited influence over internal processes, program coordination and equitable land access.

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This is especially a problem because demand for community-led initiatives is growing throughout the city.

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The city has 120 food-producing community gardens as of 2025, and there are community gardens in every ward in the city. Of the 120, 27 are on city land, including 16 on park land, but only one is city-operated. All other gardens are managed by the community with support from Just Food Ottawa, a community non-profit organization that works on rural and urban farming across the city.

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Staff said only two community gardens were approved on city land between 2015 to 2019 under the current organizational model. No new community gardens have been approved since then. City staff suspended applications and approvals for community gardens in 2023 while they waited for results from this review.

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“While some City programs support community-led green initiatives, the operations would benefit from strengthened coordination and streamlined processes,” the report read.

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“Many encounter similar barriers, including administrative barriers, liability concerns, insurance requirements, and other challenges in obtaining City approvals. Several requests for community-led green initiatives received since 2019 are awaiting decision.”

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Hoffman Hayes also surveyed 946 Ottawans as part of the review.

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According to the firm’s “What We Learned” report, 87 per cent of respondents expressed support for community gardens and green initiatives, as well as a growing desire for the city to take a leading role in promoting these initiatives.