Call out to all CAFES network members! We are looking for photo submissions from residents of Ottawa landscapes from all urban, suburban and rural areas in the city to use in our CAFES communications, including website and social media content.

Photos should be high quality, and may include images of Ottawa wildlife, parks, plants, flowers, gardens, trees, streets, agricultural lands, waterways, renewable energy projects, public transit, and more.

If you are interested in submitting photos, please email your images to info@cafesottawa.ca. Please include your full name and a description (or the location) of the photo with your submission. This is so we can provide photo credits.

We look forward to seeing your submissions!

Photo: Ahmed Al-Khaffaf

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Mark your calendars, CAFES members! CAFES will be holding our Annual General Meeting on Thursday, March 27th, 2025 via Zoom. This meeting will be open to individual and organizational members of CAFES.

This AGM will be an excellent opportunity to meet our existing and incoming Board of Directors, hear about what CAFES has achieved in 2024, and learn more about our 3-year strategic plan and priorities for 2025.

Also - did you know that the City of Ottawa is exploring the feasibility of a waste incinerator plant? CAFES has been exploring the pros and cons of incineration and other waste management technologies. We are looking forward to having exciting keynote speakers join us at the AGM to share more information about waste management with our network members. Check out our full program below:

PROGRAM

6:30 PM: Keynote Speaker Event (open to the public) - Igniting Discussion: A Solid Waste Incinerator for Ottawa?
Keynotes from Mike Ewall (Director, Energy Justice Network) and Liz Benneian (Founder, Ontario Zero Waste Coalition). Followed by Q&A.

7:55 PM: Short break

8:00 - 9:30 PM: Business Meeting - Annual General Meeting CAFES (open to CAFES members)

Please register to attend at the link below:

Zoom Registration Link 

Not sure if you are a member? Email info@cafesottawa.ca to check your status.

Haven't renewed your membership for 2025 yet? Head on over to this link to renew today!

The Peoples Official Plan Coalition (POP) is organizing a Community Gardening and Green Initiatives Workshop on Saturday, February 8th, 2025.

This important workshop will bring together representatives from organizations and groups with experience in community gardening, green initiatives and stewardship of public land including: food gardens; pollinator gardens; regeneration; invasive species identification and control; naturalization; etc. We will discuss and listen to broad perspectives and share current challenges in order to proactively prioritize and align action items prior to the March Ottawa City Council meetings regarding:

1. The Community Garden Action Plan (discussed at the Community and Social Services Committee) 
2. Use of and Planting within the Right of Way (Garden Boulevard) (discussed at the Transportation Committee)

The forum will include plenary discussions and breakout sessions to discuss specific and shared concerns related to planting on public lands in Ottawa (mainly City of Ottawa lands, but could include NCC lands and institutional lands - schools, hospitals, etc.).

Topics will include, but will not be restricted to:

• Community food gardening  
• Pollinator/native plant gardening 
• Invasive plant control
• Rewilding/Naturalization (including any policies that interfere with this)
• Tree planting
• Insurance
• Community Engagement in setting policy and operational aspects related to planting on public lands

By attending this workshop you will have the opportunity to communicate your ideas and share your expertise; and to engage with others who are passionate about gardening and greening initiatives. Your participation will help positively impact city policy and planning for the next 10 years.

Please note that this workshop is an opportunity for existing representatives from organizations in Ottawa. Please sign up using this registration form. We hope to see your group/organization representative there!

For more information, please contact Harry Fischer, ottawagarden1957@gmail.com, 613 293 7173

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Date: Saturday, February 8th, 2025

Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm

Location: Trinity United Church, 1099 Maitland Avenue, Ottawa

Please consider carpooling if you can!

Note that Trinity United Church is a plastic bottle free zone.

Membership Renewal & New Member Registration

It’s that time of year again! As we gear up for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, March 27th, 2025, we want to invite you to renew your CAFES membership or sign up as a new member to continue supporting and expanding our efforts in environmental leadership. Please reach out to your friends and connections and encourage them to sign up too. Together, we’re building a more sustainable Ottawa, and we need your help to keep the momentum going!

Why Join? CAFES is a growing network of community associations, environmental organizations, and individuals dedicated to promoting environmental stewardship and civic engagement. Our members help guide the organization’s direction and shape our work in key areas like advocacy, outreach, and sustainability education.

Your membership supports:

• Representing environmental issues at City Hall.
• Advocating for more sustainable communities across Ottawa.
• Organizing community outreach events and educational programs.

Visit the link HERE to sign up as a new member, or renew your organizational membership. Current individual memberships are automatically renewed on date you sign up. Organizational memberships are renewed in first quarter of the calendar year. If you have questions about your membership status or the renewal process, please contact info@cafesottawa.ca

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Open Call for New 2025 Board Members 

CAFES is actively seeking individuals who are passionate about making a difference in Ottawa’s environmental future to serve on our Board of Directors. Board members contribute their experience, judgment, and vision to help steer CAFES towards greater success. If you are passionate about environmental sustainability and community engagement, we’d love for you to apply!

Commitment details:

• Monthly 2-hour meetings (in the evenings).
• Contribute to decision-making and strategic direction of our organization.
• Option to serve on committees (e.g., Fundraising, Board Renewal, etc.).
• Approximately 6 hours per month of volunteer time, with seasonal fluctuations.

We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and strive for a balanced board that represents all of Ottawa’s diverse communities. We are particularly seeking greater representation on our Board from Ottawa's Indigenous residents.

If you are interested in joining our Board of Directors or becoming a volunteer leader, please express your interest by visiting this link.

Not ready to serve on the Board of Directors, but still want to be part of the action? Renew your CAFES membership today and continue supporting our shared vision for a greener, more sustainable Ottawa.

Together, we are stronger. Thank you for your ongoing support of CAFES as we work toward a more sustainable and engaged Ottawa!

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Save the Date!

CAFES' AGM will be on March 27th, 2025, in the evening. We will have an interesting speaker, and will share more details as we get closer to the date. We are looking forward to seeing you all there on March 27th!

Ecology Ottawa, with several partners including Bird Friendly Ottawa, are calling on the City of Ottawa to obtain Bird-Friendly City status, a certification from Nature Canada. Please consider signing the petition to protect Ottawa's birds!

Sign the petition HERE

Birds play a vital role in Ottawa’s ecosystem by contributing to pollination, distributing seeds and maintaining ecosystem health. There are more than 180 bird species in the Ottawa area, with about 2 million individual birds nesting in our urban area and millions more migrating through the city annually.

Unfortunately, birds face a variety of threats in Ottawa. This includes free-roaming cats that catch birds at an alarming rate, untreated glass, excessive exterior lighting, pesticide use, and increasing loss of habitat from development, sprawl and clear cutting. Sadly, approximately 250,000 birds are killed in Ottawa annually from window collisions alone.

The City of Ottawa has made some commitments to protecting birds, including sustainable design practices and technologies to protect wildlife (Official Plan 4.6.4, 11.1), commitments to protect the City’s natural environment (Official Plan 4.8.1), and commitments to adopt an “ecosystem perspective” to facilitate a more harmonious relationship with wildlife (Wildlife Strategy). While the City adopted Bird-Safe Design Guidelines in 2022, they are merely guidelines and impose no obligation for their implementation.

The petition calls upon the City of Ottawa to:

• Pass a resolution supporting an application to Nature Canada to become certified as Bird-Friendly City.
• Upgrade its Bird-Safe Design Guidelines to Standards, particularly through the implementation of the High-Performance Development Standards.
• Commit to an annual program educating residents on the threats that cats pose to birds.
• Accelerate the implementation of the Urban Forest Management Plan to achieve our 40% canopy coverage at a neighbourhood level.
• Commit to the conservation of existing forest and wetlands, particularly those wetlands recently made vulnerable from the Provincial Bill 23.

To read more about Nature Canada's certification program, visit this link here. Scroll down on the page to find an interactive map that shows current cities that have been certified as Bird Friendly Cities (including Toronto, Barrie, Kitchener, Guelph, Sarnia and more!).

The City of Ottawa is updating the Use and Care of Roads By-law regarding the growth of food in residential boulevard (Right-of-Way) gardens. You have until December 31st 2024 to submit your feedback in support of food growth in the Right-of-Way!

The boulevard is the city-owned portion of the front yard on a lot. The boulevard can account for a significant portion of the front yard space - in many areas in Ottawa, the boulevard can extend more than 15 feet away from the curb. Residents are expected to maintain this section of their property.

In 2023, the city passed amendments to the by-law to allow residents to plant and maintain gardens (instead of grass) along the city-owned boulevard abutting their property. At the time, gardens intended on growing food for consumption were not permitted, but staff were directed to conduct further review on the allowance of food, as well as planter boxes in boulevard gardens.

Now, city staff are considering updating the by-law to:

• Allow the growth of food in residential boulevard gardens
• Introduce a provision to allow moveable planter boxes on a seasonal basis
• Introduce a required letter of acknowledgement and release for a resident to grow food in their garden

While the review is a positive step forward, staff are considering that food grown in containers will be allowed only if those containers are movable (eg. can be lifted without having to remove the soil) and would need to be removed from the Right-of-Way each Fall and returned each spring.

Furthermore, the report states that the height limitation of 1 meter will remain for all plants planted in the boulevard, and unless the wording is explicitly changed in the by-law, this height would be measured from the ground, not the top of the garden box.

Our Recommendations:

1. Every residential house in Ottawa should be permitted to have NON-movable, permanent raised garden beds to contain healthy soil to grow plants. Many homes in Ottawa already have permanent beds in their front yards and boulevards, and these have not posed any issue for road maintenance, snow plows, etc. Permanent beds would significantly expand the quantity and quality of food that is able to be grown in the garden and would allow boulevard gardens to be a more substantial, year-round, permanent food source.
2. For plants located within 1 meter of the curb, the city should increase the plant height to 1 meter as measured from the TOP of the garden box to ensure that a wider variety of plants can be grown. For all other plants located more than 1 meter away from the curb, the city should allow plants to grow freely, or at a minimum of 1.5 meters, and enforce plant height only if there is a safety consideration.
3. Residents should be able to plant and grow their own native trees in the Right of Way, as well as fruit, nut and sap trees - at the cost to the resident. This would further grow and enhance the biodiversity of the city's tree canopy, compliment ROW food gardens by providing additional sustainable food sources, and reduce costs from the city needing to plant and maintain trees on those properties as part of the Trees in Trust program. We suggest the city develop more comprehensive evidence-based online resources on food-producing trees and tree care for residents to consult when deciding to plant a fruit or nut tree in the ROW.

For more information and additional recommendations to the by-law, visit the following pages:

• Just Food reported on staff's considerations to the by-law and posted their recommendations - CLICK HERE to read
• Ottawa South Eco-Action Network (OSEAN) created a webpage that focuses on ways the by-law could expand biodiversity in addition to food sovereignty - CLICK HERE to read

You have until December 31st, 2024, to submit your feedback by filling out the survey on Engage Ottawa! To access the survey, visit the link HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Calling all individuals living in Ottawa who are passionate about environmental sustainability and care about community - CAFES is looking for new members to sit on our Board of Directors!

We are particularly seeking greater representation on our Board from Ottawa's Indigenous residents.

The new slate will be presented to the membership at the spring 2025 CAFES Annual General Meeting (expected late March 2025). The work:

• Board members attend monthly 2-hour meetings in the evening, where members lend their vision, experience and judgment to help steer the strategy of the organization; oversee the management and work of the Executive Director and staff, and oversee financial and risk management.
• Board members may join a committee, such as the Fundraising Committee, Board Renewal Committee, or other ad hoc working groups and committees.
• Board Member contributions are based on individual strengths, experience, capacity and interests. Board members are not remunerated but serve in a volunteer capacity.
• The general time commitment is approximately 6 hours per month, with certain months being more active or slower depending on the season.

CAFES endeavour towards a balanced representation of board members from rural, suburban and urban areas, and are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. Board Members serve two-year terms, with maximum of two term renewals. Candidates must reside in Ottawa and surrounding neighbourhoods permanently or temporarily during their term, and must be CAFES members in good standing upon joining and while serving on the Board.

Please visit this link to express your interest to join the CAFES Board of Directors or serve in the capacity of a senior volunteer.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Join CAFES and Navan-Vars United Church on Thursday November 14th from 5:30pm-8:30pm for an engaging community board game night featuring Climate Fresk, a game to enhance our understanding of climate change. Using a series of 42 cards that illustrate the cause-and-effect relationships of climate phenomena, this workshop encourages teamwork, creativity, and critical thinking. Enjoy a light supper and tea while connecting with fellow community members in meaningful discussions about climate action. This event is ideal for ages 17 and up, and no prior knowledge of climate science is required.

For more information and to register, visit the Eventbrite link here. We can't wait to see you there!

Are you wanting to participate more in environmental events going on across Ottawa? Or, are you an organization wanting to promote an upcoming event? The CAFES Community Calendar is just the place!

Our monthly community calendar, available HERE on our website, posts upcoming environment and climate-related events and opportunities happening all over the city, so you can see what's going on and find more information all in one place. You can find volunteering opportunities, upcoming talks or community dialogues, eco fairs, seed and tree give-aways, planting or gardening events, city information sessions, public consultations, webinars - and much, much more!

If you would like to add your events to our calendar, or if you are part of an organization and want to become a regular contributor, please contact info@cafesottawa.ca

You can also subscribe to our calendar which will add it to your regular Google, Outlook, or Apple calendars. To do this, click HERE to visit the Community Calendar page on our website, then follow the instructions in the right-hand column of the page.