That the Ottawa Police Service Board approve:
1. The budget of $233 million to be used to deliver the Professional
Development Center Capital Project, as identified in the Facilities Strategic
Plan, to be initiated in Q2 2026.
2. The addition of $20 million to capital project 911541 (PDC) in 2026.
Superseded
Motion to substitute moved by Vice Chair Carr
WHEREAS the Ottawa Police Service Board (the Board) is responsible under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA) for providing adequate and effective policing in the City of Ottawa;
WHEREAS Ontario Regulation 87/24 (Training) prescribes mandatory training requirements, including annual firearms qualification, that form part of the standards of adequate and effective policing established under Ontario Regulation 392/23 (Adequate and Effective Policing (General));
WHEREAS for 25 years the primary Professional Development Centre (PDC) training location was Algonquin College Building-P, until the College served the Ottawa Police Service (the Service) with a termination notice in 2024, and the Board subsequently approved an 8-year lease in 2025 for the College's firearm range only, expiring in 2033;
WHEREAS continued range access is critical to annual firearms qualification under O. Reg. 87/24, and the range lease expiry without a permanent alternative would directly impair the Board's adequacy obligation;
WHEREAS the Service now delivers training from ad hoc facilities dispersed across eight city sites under leases and arrangements of limited duration, creating operational inefficiency, CSPA compliance risk, and the prospect of costly short-term refits if any interim arrangement expires before a permanent solution is in place;
WHEREAS the Chief has proposed a new PDC on the undeveloped 7.5 acres of the south site, estimated at $233 million fully debt-financed, with $20 million sought in 2026 to initiate the project;
WHEREAS the inclusion of a 24-lane, 50-metre firearms range is a primary driver of an estimated per-square-foot construction cost of approximately $2,800, nearly three times the approximately $1,000 per-square-foot cost of the South Facility Project on the same site;
WHEREAS the $233 million is derived from a Class 4 estimate carrying a stated margin of error of -30% to +50%, to which the Service has added a 25% escalation;
WHEREAS the $20 million initiation tranche has no confirmed funding source, is absent from the Board-approved 2026 capital budget, and would require a supplementary process requiring City Council approval;
WHEREAS the project would generate annual debt service charges in the OPS operating budget reaching approximately $3.8 million per year by 2032, representing a departure from the Board-approved ten-year capital forecast which contemplates no new debt beyond the South Facility;
WHEREAS the City Treasurer's cooperation is essential to debenture issuance, and the Board has not been provided confirmation of sufficient coordination with City staff;
WHEREAS the police board supports the staff stabilization plan and increased investment in hiring frontline police officers and the primary strategic objective remains investing as much available resources as possible into frontline service that improves policing and directly impacts the safety of Ottawa residents;
WHEREAS the report does not indicate that alternatives were evaluated before the proposed approach was advanced, including federal and provincial capital funding; a shared emergency services training campus with Ottawa Fire Services and Ottawa Paramedic Service, which face overlapping training needs and recurrent capital pressures; long-term range access arrangements with federally-owned firing ranges; acquisition of the Algonquin range; and alternative delivery methodologies;
WHEREAS the report itself positions the proposed PDC as a potential eastern hub for legislated training across multiple police services, a regional function that could strengthen the Service's eligibility for capital funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board defer consideration of the recommendations contained in the Chief's report dated April 27, 2026, and direct the Chief of Police to conduct a structured options analysis addressing the following matters before a capital commitment is sought from the Board:
- Shared facility: assessment of the feasibility of more efficient and cost-effective solutions including shared emergency services training campus developed in partnership with other emergency services agencies as well as potential partnerships in the broader policing, security and intelligence community, and report back on partnerships that have been considered;
- Range access alternatives: assessment of options for securing long-term firearms range access through arrangements with existing federal or institutional range operators, or through acquisition at Algonquin College, as an alternative to constructing an on-site range;
- Project delivery methodology: a comparative assessment of delivery models, with particular attention to cost certainty and scope flexibility given the specialized nature of the requirement; and
- Financing structure: confirmation of a viable pathway to debt financing of any future capital investments in consultation with the City Treasurer, including the impact of any development charge revenue on the debt service profile;
- Government funding: identification and pursuit of available capital funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Chief of Police report back to the Board via the Finance and Audit Committee on the progress of this analysis, including discussions with other levels of government, as soon as practicable and no later than Q4 2026