The new campus will be located near the intersection of Carling Ave and Preston St, near Dow’s Lake, on the site of the former Sir John Carling building. The Ottawa Hospital signed a 99-year lease for the site with the federal government in February 2018.

When it opens in 2028, the new hospital will be 2.5 million sq. ft on a 50-acre site. 

What will happen with the existing Civic campus?

You can visit the City of Ottawa’s public engagement site to learn more and provide feedback.

• 2021: Complete program and space planning
• 2022: Start of on-site parking garage; select the preferred proponents and long-term partners for the new campus development
• 2023: Complete the business and financial plan
• 2024: Construction of the hospital begins 
• 2027: Transition management to the new site
• 2028: Grand opening

Work crews will be onsite in summer 2021 to complete site studies and planning. Public Services and Procurement Canada will also be onsite in late summer 2021 to remove the West Annex building, the only remaining portion of the former Sir John Carling building. Following this work, site preparation will begin.

While some trees will need to be removed from the site to allow for construction, the hospital has developed a tree conservation plan. The proposed site design will ensure that many mature trees on the site are preserved.

In addition, the hospital will plant five new trees for every tree that needs to be removed, in partnership with the Central Experimental Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, and the City of Ottawa.

The hospital’s project team will be consulting with experts on the best ways to minimize the number of disruptions to birds and other wildlife. This work will be part of the detailed design process that is scheduled to take place in the coming year.

The area that The Ottawa Hospital serves includes Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec and Nunavut. While many patients will not require parking at the hospital, others will, and the hospital will endeavor to provide the most non-stressful arrival for our patients as possible. Some patients will require parking that is close to the hospital.

The proposed site plan includes a 2,500-stall parking garage, as well as smaller lots with accessible and short-term parking spots, Emergency Department parking, and limited staff parking. The garage will include 72 accessible spaces, 144 spaces for people with limited mobility, and 347 secure bike parking spots.

The overall number of parking spaces onsite was determined through a variety of information including an analysis of the volume of patients, visitors, and staff members that are forecast to be on site each day and they include projections for future use.

When construction on the new campus begins in 2024, the site will be bustling with about 2,000 building and construction trades workers onsite. To ensure that workers avoid parking in the surrounding neighbourhood, a 2500-stall parking garage will be built to accommodate vehicles. 

The four-storey garage will be above ground but integrated into the landscape with a berm and a peripheral hedge of trees. It will be buried under 1.5 to 2 metres of soil that will accommodate a five-acre park on the roof.

The route from the parking garage to the hospital is at grade, equipped with mobility aids such as moving sidewalks, with a climate-controlled walkway and rest locations.

Construction on the parking garage is scheduled to begin in 2022.

As the hospital’s objective is to provide as non-stressful an arrival as possible for our patients, the proposed parking garage is planned onsite to minimize travel time and stress for patients and families arriving by car. Many patients must travel long distances for specialty services only provided by The Ottawa Hospital.