Heritage Ottawa

Contact Mayor Sutcliffe and City Councillors BEFORE SEPTEMBER 27 to voice your concerns about the Central Experimental Farm.

Heritage Ottawa has written to Mayor Sutcliffe urging a deferral on this decision until further discussions with AAFC on the impacts to the Farm can take place.

CLICK HERE to read Heritage Ottawa's letter to the mayor.

CLICK HERE for the Mayor and Councillors' email addresses.

CLICK HERE for Heritage Ottawa's Media Release of September 19, 2023. 

CLICK HERE to read Advocacy Committee Member Leslie Maitland's submission of September 20.

Despite the facts presented to the Planning and Housing Committee by AAFC Deputy Minister Stéphanie Beck, that clearly dispute the findings of the City staff report justifying approval of the proposed tower development, members voted (9 yeas, 3 nays) in its favour. 

Unlike the City staff report, which concludes that the tower development will not have undue negative impacts on the Farm, AAFC stated categorically that the findings of its own detailed shadow impact study concluded the towers would have a "costly and enduring impacts on research land and greenhouses" that are so important to ongoing climate change studies, and that "millions of dollars and decades of long-term research will be compromised." AAFC also expressed "deep concern" about the "flawed" criteria used by City planners to assess the impacts of the development on research fields as "nonsensical" from an agricultural needs perspective. 

CLICK HERE to watch the the AAFC delegation's presentation to the committee. The presentation starts at 1 hour 20 minutes on the clock.

The application goes to full City Council for final approval on September 27. There is still time to contact the Mayor and councillors if you have concerns about the precedent-setting decision for future development on the periphery of the Farm that will have irreparable consequences for globally important climate change research. 

As stated in the National Historic Site designation for the Central Experimental Farm, its heritage value lies in its research capacity. As worldwide climate change threatens global food security, worldwide importance of the CEF's research cannot be dismissed. 

Heritage Ottawa has been advocating for protection of the Central Experimental Farm for years. A compilation of media coverage, along with our own statements relating to protection of the CEF and its important work, appear below in reverse chronological order dating back to November 2014.