Ottawa councillor hoping other levels of government pitch in to build Vanier community hub

Plans for a new community centre in Vanier unveiled. We tell you why this is so significant for the area and its residents.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante says she will be going on a charm offensive to encourage other levels of government to pitch in funding for a new community hub and rec centre in Vanier.

Plante announced this week that the City of Ottawa signed an agreement to move forward with a new building at 250 Montreal Rd., in partnership with Vanier Community Services Centre and Regional Group, the owner of the building.

“Every time I knocked on doors in Vanier, residents told me the same thing: we need more spaces for recreation, more places to gather, and community spaces that reflect the reality and diversity of Vanier. This project is the direct result of those conversations and years of community feedback,” Plante said on her website.

Speaking on CTV Your Morning Ottawa on Thursday, Plante said there was a lot of community support for the project.

“It really is a groundswell from the community. It really is the community saying we need spaces that are adapted,” she said.

According to a document shared on her website, the project partners are seeking endorsement and funding from other levels of government to support the project, including provincial support for a community legal clinic and primary care team, and funding from the federal government to build affordable housing units.

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The project concept includes two buildings that would offer space for the Vanier Community Services Centre, a health clinic, a food bank, an indoor event space, a gym, and retail tenants.

“We know that everybody knows that there is a need in the Vanier area for this. There’s a need for affordable housing; there’s a need even just for retail on Montreal Road. So, we’re really hoping in the next couple months to kind of do a charm offensive with anybody who wants to join us on this beautiful project,” Plante said. “And we’re glad that the city is on board with that seed funding, because we think that will be an appropriate kind of catnip to bring people in to tell them to invest in the Vanier area.”

Andree-Anne Martel, with the Vanier Community Services Centre, said Vanier needs and deserves a community hub like this project.

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“We’re seeing great needs in Vanier. Vanier is a resilient, vibrant community, and we need, we deserve a beautiful building that represents what the community truly is, which is a community that comes together and responds to needs under one roof,” she said.

“There are different francophone centres in Ottawa. We have the MIFO, we have la Maison de la Francophonie in the west, why not have that great, beautiful building in Vanier?”