Visitor traffic has returned to pre-pandemic heights in the ByWard Market and the historic downtown Ottawa district “feels safer” since the installation of a community policing hub one year ago, according to the first annual update from the ByWard Market District Authority.
That rosy outlook was tempered somewhat at the June 25 council session by Coun. Stéphanie Plante, whose Rideau-Vanier Ward includes the ByWard Market, after BMDA executives touted the neighbourhood’s progress during the past year.
“The police statistics you mentioned and the idea of safety and (the) visitor experiences, the businesses… I just want to put that to bed because that’s absolutely not what I’m seeing in my inbox,” Plante said.
“That’s not what I’m seeing when I speak to people who live in the area, servers, people who work in hotels, etc. They are reporting to me they are more scared, they are reporting to me they are not calling police because it just takes too long,” Plante said, as more businesses and hotels are hiring private security “to take matters into their own hands.”
The ByWard Market saw a “healthy” 22 million distinct visits in 2024, according to the BMDA.
“We are charting our way in the right direction,” said BMDA vice chair Suzanne Valiquet at last week’s update to council. “We have heard from businesses and residents alike that our district feels safer with our new neighbourhood police officer presence.
“More people are reporting what they see to police, and that is a good thing. It shows we are engaged and we all care.”
Plante urged her council colleagues to be “very cautious to use those stats to say that things are improving or getting better.”
According to the community safety data portal and crime mapping tool maintained by the Ottawa Police Service, there were about 1,200 reported crimes in the ByWard Market in 2024 — the same approximate totals seen in 2023 and 2022. Those numbers are down from the 1,500 crimes recorded in 2018, the first year of available data on the OPS portal.
The data shows a slight dip in violent crime and thefts in the ByWard Market in 2024 when compared with the previous three years.
There were 281 assaults that were considered “founded” by Ottawa police in 2024. That’s down from 303 assaults in 2023 and 304 in 2022. There was one homicide in the district in 2024, two in 2023 and none in 2022 or in 2021.
The ByWard Market saw 34 robberies in 2024, which is down from 56 in 2023, 51 in 2022 and 53 in 2021. There was, likewise, a slight decline in break-and-enter offences with 107 in 2024, down from 158 in 2023 and 110 in each of 2022 and 2021.
There were 32 vehicle thefts in the ByWard Market in 2024, with the same number recorded in 2023, and down slightly from 43 vehicle thefts in 2022 and 34 in 2021.
There was an increase, however, in overall thefts in 2024. There were 15 cases of theft over $5,000 in 2024 (there were 11 in each of 2023 and 2022, and nine in 2021.)
Police tracked 530 cases of theft under $5,000 in 2024, showing a steady increase over the past four years of data (with 492 in 2023, 450 in 2022 and 330 in 2021.)
BMDA executives credited the Ottawa police neighbourhood operations centre, which opened in June 2024 on the ground floor of the Rideau Centre, with an increased police visibility in the area.
BMDA executives told councillors they are “hearing that from people and residents — that they’re seeing police more,” said BMDA executive director Zachary Dayler.
“There’s an immediate knowledge that because of that presence they are feeling and seeing an improvement,” Valiquet told city councillors.
“I’m in ByWard almost every single day, that’s not the feedback I’m getting,” Plante countered. “People are very, very scared, a lot of families have moved, a lot of people are selling their units… Normally, (the neighbourhood has) been a draw for students and for parents buying units for their students who are going to the University of Ottawa and we’re not seeing that anymore.
“We can all tap ourselves on the back and say things are getting better, it’s so great, but if you look under the hood a bit and look at the analysis, that’s not the case,” Plante said.
The BMDA also offered a counterpoint to a common narrative in the media about businesses that have shuttered in the district.
“For every business that’s closed another one has opened within a short period of time,” Dayler said. The BMDA has put “added effort” into marketing and communications and “engaging with more proactive media outreach” to give positive highlights of the neighbourhood.
The authority is embarking on a $100,000 marketing campaign in 2025, Dayler said, highlighting the Market as a meeting place and “to encourage people to tell a different story.”
Dayler pointed to the “stabilization” of vendor revenue in 2024 and the $11 million in government funds, primarily for the revitalization of William Street and other “beautification” projects.
The ByWard Market hosted special events, markets and festivals through 191 days of the 2024 calendar year, Dayler said.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said there is reason for optimism for the ByWard Market following the council session.
“We know there was a lot of progress made in the ByWard Market, and I’m happy to see that more people are visiting every day, every month,” Sutcliffe said. “We made a lot of progress with the police service, and I think there’s a lot of optimism.
“I know we still have a lot of work to do, it’s not over yet, but we have a responsibility to continue to look for solutions to homelessness, to mental health issues… We have a lot of work to do to improve the situation in the ByWard Market, but at the same time, I’m happy to see that we have made a lot of progress.”
