At a time of skyrocketing costs and tight budgets, Ottawa festivals are under additional stress from an “unpredictable” and “last-minute” municipal permitting system, says Tara Shannon, executive director of Ottawa Festivals .
It’s a system that can result in a surprise invoice from the City of Ottawa after an event, apparently to cover the cost of services incurred or the loss of potential revenue. The bills can be hundreds or thousands of dollars, and there’s no transparency in how these assessments are calculated, Shannon says.
“The city sort of estimates what the services’ costs are going to be and then they adjust after the festival, so there will be an adjusting invoice,” Shannon said. “Sometimes it’s more, and sometimes it’s less, but the unpredictable nature of it creates stress and makes it difficult for the festivals. It’s having a negative effect.”
While the city did not break down how the costs were determined, Ryan Perrault, general manager of the emergency and protective services department, said an estimate was provided to organizers in advance. Final costs “may vary in limited circumstances based on the services actually required,” Perrault wrote in an email.
Festival organizers have also been stymied by the slow pace of permit approvals as well as the number of city departments that must sign off on each one. To streamline the permitting process for outdoor events, festivals and film productions, the Event Central office was created more than a decade ago, with an online portal launched in 2022 for the submission of applications.
Despite those measures, the process is still onerous and potentially expensive, says Mark Monahan, executive and artistic director of Bluesfest and CityFolk .
“Once you’ve filled out all your information (in the portal), it then gets disseminated to the various city departments who may want to be involved, or are affected,” he said. “Then you have to deal with those departments.”
Also required is a meeting between the Event Central office, the event organizer and the city’s Special Events Advisory Team (SEAT), along with representatives from various city departments, which may include transit, public health, paramedics, fire services, police services, parking control, bylaw enforcement and more. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and the National Capital Commission could be involved, too.
The discussion goes around the table, with each department bringing up its concerns, and the onus is on the festival to satisfy those concerns before a permit is issued, Monahan said.
But, he noted that each department worked on its own schedule with little regard for a festival’s timeline. Although city staff are professional and thorough, Monahan believes they have a hard time keeping up with the number of permit applications.
Any outdoor event expecting to draw more than 500 people is required to have a permit, as well as events that take over municipal rights-of-way, such as a sidewalk or street. There is no fee for the permit.
“There are so many events that are being fed into this system that what happens is that people are finding out, in some cases at the very last minute, about extra expenses,” Monahan said. “There’s not enough city staff and resources to be dealing with all of these events in a timely manner.”
The city says 288 applications for permits have been submitted through the portal so far this year, with two initially denied. “However, both events were ultimately able to proceed after organizers adjusted their size or scope,” Perrault said, without identifying those events.
He also noted that approval timelines vary, “depending on the size and complexity of the event and the other permits or approvals that may be required.” Under the city’s special events bylaw, Event Central is to advise the applicant within 20 days if a permit will be issued or if any outstanding requirements need to be addressed.
“Event Central continues working with the organizer throughout the process to co-ordinate those requirements and support the event in moving forward safely,” Perrault said, noting there was no cost to the applicant for Event Central and SEAT support.
While Bluesfest and CityFolk are fortunate to have full-time staff members to deal with the city, many smaller events are volunteer-driven.
“When a lot of their time is being spent on applying for permits or meeting with city staff, they don’t have a lot of time left to actually put on their event. It sucks the life out of you,” Monahan said.
Perrault said the city’s broader special-events framework had recently undergone a “comprehensive” review focused on “improving service delivery, reducing red tape and supporting safe, successful events.”
Additional feedback from event organizers is always welcome, Perrault added.
Both Shannon and Monahan said they were pleased to hear mayoral candidates Jeff Leiper and incumbent Mark Sutcliffe agree to further examine the process during a recent debate on the arts that attracted an overflow crowd to Arts Court.
“There’s got to be a meet-in-the-middle point somewhere,” Monahan said. “We can’t overregulate to the point where people are discouraged from trying things.”
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Lynn Saxberg is the arts reporter at the Ottawa Citizen. For years she has been covering music festivals like Bluesfest, performances at the National Arts Centre and Canadian Tire Centre, as well as art exhibitions, comedy shows, the club scene and more. Sign up to receive weekly updates from Lynn Saxberg
