Property Subsidy Will Get The Rubber Stamp: STANKOVIC

10/14/2025

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Despite fiscal challenges, the City of Ottawa continues to subsidize private developments without any sound rationale or rigorous review.

On Oct. 22, Ottawa City Council will consider and invariably approve a property tax grant of approximately $338,000 toward construction of a two-storey, $5-million, 12,000-sq.-ft. health-care facility on Innes Road in Orléans. The proposed development will consist of an urgent-care clinic and a pharmacy (relocated from the existing nearby location) on the first floor and a mix of health-care providers (family physicians and medical specialists) on the second floor.

The grant application is made under the Integrated Orléans Community Improvement Plan (CIP) Program approved by council in 2024.

There is no argument that the proposed new health-care facility will be a valuable investment in the improvement of the quality of life for a rapidly growing community, Orleans East-Cumberland Councillor, Matt Luloff says. The proposed development will improve access to healthcare services especially when there exists an acute shortage of family doctors today throughout Ontario and Canada.

But that’s not the point.

My main issue with the CIP application is that the city staff report fails to demonstrate that the proposed development would not go ahead but for the property tax grant. The failure to present such an assessment on the part of staff is evident in every single CIP application approved by city council in the past beginning with the first Ottawa community-based CIP created in 2009 for St. Joseph Boulevard.

The results of a detailed review, even if provided by the applicant and verified by staff, must be included as part of the rationale for recommending approval of the CIP application. Otherwise without such a review, it is impossible for council members to determine whether or not the property tax grant is simply a subsidy.

So, lets look at some of the current trends and history in the provision of goods and services to the local consumer or business market. The first important thing to note is that the demand health-care services such as emergency services, family doctors, dentists, chiropractors etc. is largely derived from the local population base. As population levels increase, so does the demand for such services. The demand can also be influenced by shifting demographics such as the overall aging of the resident population. The same trends would also impact other population- or consumer-oriented businesses and retailing including restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, hair salons and barbers, hardware stores and the like.

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Labour force data is not available for Orléans but Luloff points out in the staff report on the project that Orléans has a serious shortage of primary health-care spaces due to the community’s rapid population growth. The proposed project will build capacity where it is desperately needed. The location of the new facility will also better serve the area south of Innes where most of the population growth over recent years has occurred. It is also useful to note that the owner of the property and applicant has also recently opened other health clinics and pharmacies in Westboro and Barrhaven to meet growing community demand without the need for financial incentives from the city.

The above brief analysis indicates that the proposed development could proceed without the requested property-tax grant. The existing capacity of health-care space seems to be insufficient to meet the demand from a growing population in Orléans and, in particular, south Orléans which in turn could be well served by a new facility on Innes Road.

Still, I have no doubt that on Oct, 22 city council will simply rubber stamp the CIP application for the property-tax subsidy.

Dan Stankovic is an Ottawa consultant and former municipal public servant in economic development and housing.