City of Ottawa Budget 2025

The 2025 City of Ottawa budget provides an opportunity for bold leadership in addressing gender-based violence (GBV). While the draft budget allocates $1.12 billion to community and social services, it also directs a staggering $442 million to police—15 times the funding set aside for essential community-based services that support Ottawa’s most marginalized residents.

The draft budget allocates $30 million for over 100 community-based organizations— we know that Ottawa residents are in a crisis and these services are essential.

At the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW), we believe there is a better way forward. Together, we can create a city where survivors are supported, and violence is prevented before it begins.There is no specific funding that has been allocated to gbv prevention within this current budget.

However this requires a commitment to community-led solutions and survivor-centered services. The current budget misses a critical opportunity to address the root causes of GBV through prevention, early intervention, and systems coordination.

Community-Based Priorities To Address IPV and GBV  

Through several years of consultations, the anti-gender-based violence sector has identified several critical priorities for the City of Ottawa to address in shared research with the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan- GBV Pillar;

1. Increased Investment in Community-Based Prevention Initiatives 

2. Alternatives to Police Reporting 

3. Strengthening Service and Systems Coordination 

Relevant documents: Community Safety and Wellbeing; GBV Scoping Study

As an organization advocating for service coordination, education, and prevention within Ottawa’s GBV movement, we know that addressing gender-based violence requires addressing root causes like poverty, promoting early intervention, and implementing community-based prevention solutions.

Our Recommendations to the City Council for Budget 2025 

We urge the City Council to: 

• Invest in Prevention and Community-Based Solutions: Support initiatives that prevent gender-based violence and empower community-based responses, prioritizing survivor-centered services outside of the justice system. 

• Listen to Frontline Workers and Advocates: Amplify the voices of frontline workers, advocates, and organizations that serve survivors across all communities, not just those who report violence to the police. 

• Commit to Meaningful Support for the IPV Epidemic: Honour the city’s commitments by investing in proven solutions that support survivors and address the systemic issues that contribute to violence. 

IPV and GBV are at epidemic levels, and we call on City decision-makers to act boldly and stand with survivors because Violence Has No Boundaries.

Call to Action

We invite every resident of Ottawa to stand with survivors and demand a city budget that prioritizes prevention, safety, and community care over policing. By making your voice heard at upcoming city committee meetings, you can help ensure the 2025 budget reflects our shared commitment to ending gender-based violence.

How You Can Get Involved

• Make a Delegation:

  • Community Services Committee Meeting -November 26th 2024

  • Transit Commission -November 25th, 9:00am

  • Ottawa Police Services Board Meeting -December 2nd 2024

  • Finance and Corporate Services Committee- December 3rd 2024

  Here is a helpful document that will support you around delegations

• Sign and Share the Petition: Stand with Survivors: Prioritize a City Budget to End Gender-Based Violence

• Advocate in Your Community: Share this message, educate others, and join us in building a movement for systemic change.

  Violence has no boundaries, but together we can draw a line in the sand and demand better. With your support, we can ensure that Ottawa’s 2025 budget becomes a beacon of hope for survivors and a testament to the power of collective action.

  Let’s work together—because the time to act is now.