The defending champions started their campaign earlier this month by dropping two games, before finally getting into the win column against the expansion FC Supra du Québec.

Atletico played its first home game last Sunday against Vancouver, with the two teams finishing the game tied at 1.

On Friday, Ottawa hits the road again to take on the unbeaten Inter Toronto FC.

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Nearly two-thirds of Ottawa voters disapprove of city council’s plan to redevelop Lansdowne Park, a new poll suggests.

The Liaison Strategies survey, commissioned by the Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, shows 61 per cent of respondents do not support council’s plan to rebuild the north stands of the city’s main football stadium and build a new arena on the grounds of Lansdowne Park.

Thirty-one per cent support the move, while seven per cent were unsure.

Opposition is strongest among 35-49 year olds (64 per cent disapprove), voters in Ottawa’s south (65) and women (63). Support is fairly uniform amongst all groups, though younger voters (35 per cent approve) and east residents (37) are more likely to back the plan.

READ MORE: Ottawa council approves $419-million Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment after contentious debate

Council narrowly approved the $419 million Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment in a vote last November, paving the way for the construction of the new facilities, as well as a parking garage.

As part of the redevelopment plan, the city is selling air rights for the site to developers, and it’s expected that new towers will add 800 housing units.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe touted the plan as a great deal for taxpayers because the city would only have to pay 31 per cent of the construction costs and none of the operation expenses.

He said failing to move forward with the redevelopment would cost the city millions in investment and raise the bill for the inevitable future repairs to the facilities.

“We can hold back we can delay further, or we can move forward. And I want to keep Ottawa moving forward,” Sutcliffe said last fall.

For the automated phone poll — conducted between April 11-12 — Liaison Strategies based the results on response from 1,000 Ottawa voters. The data was matched with the city’s profile from the 2021 Census, with the results broken down by region in the city, gender, age and language.

The margin of error is reported as 3.09 percentage points, though is higher for sub-samples.

Lansdowne Park has hosted the city’s football and junior hockey teams for decades, as well as special events, including Ottawa’s now dormant annual exhibition.

But the site sat largely vacant and underused in the years before a significant renovation in 2014 that saw the replacement of the south-side stands for the football stadium, and addition of retail and dining facilities, as well as several condo and townhome buildings.

The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), which owns the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks and the OHL’s Ottawa 67s — both Lansdowne tenants — was tasked with overseeing the initial transformation of the site, and would take the helm of the proposed renovation project.

OSEG acts as the operator of Lansdowne, and has reported losses in each of the past ten years, and has never made any payment to the city. Under the terms of the agreement, OSEG recoups any profits first before distributing them to the city.

Sutcliffe said the city has never had to absorb any losses because of its partnership with OSEG, and wouldn’t have to shoulder any operating costs for Lansdowne 2.0 either.

A recent review found the north-side stands had become functionally obsolete and needed significant repairs. It also found the decades-old arena located underneath the stands was reaching the end of its functional usefulness, and was energy inefficient.

Critics have questioned if the redevelopment plan is a massive public giveaway to OSEG, noting the city’s women’s pro hockey team — which isn’t owned by OSEG — has warned against plans for a smaller capacity arena.

It’s expected the new arena would sit around 6,600 people, but the Ottawa Charge regularly sells out the existing TD Place Arena, which has a capacity of over 9,000.

The Ottawa Compass and iPolitics have partnered with Liaison to provide exclusive polling data on the 2026 Ottawa municipal election.

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The Liaison Strategies poll, commissioned by the Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, shows Sutcliffe’s approval rating on every major issue is below water in advance of this fall’s municipal election.

The mayor performs the worst on transit, with 71 per cent of voters disapproving of his handling on the file. His best performance is on crime, where 48 per cent disapprove, compared to 44 per cent who support his approach.

A majority of respondents offered a negative assessment of Sutcliffe’s performance on the other issues, including homelessness (58 per cent disapproved), traffic (57 per cent), housing affordability (54 per cent) and inflation (51 per cent).

For the automated phone poll — conducted between April 11-12 — Liaison Strategies based the results on response from 1,000 Ottawa voters. The data was matched with the city’s profile from the 2021 Census, with the results broken down by region in the city, gender, age and language.

The margin of error is reported as 3.09 percentage points, though is higher for sub-samples.

The mayor’s only positive approval ratings in the poll came on the questions of crime and inflation. On crime, he polled above water among west residents (49 per cent approved) and those 65 and older (53 per cent). When it came to inflation, only those in the 65+ crowd gave him a positive approval (47 per cent to 44 that disapproved).

The Ottawa Compass and iPolitics have partnered with Liaison to provide exclusive polling data on the 2026 Ottawa municipal election.

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The Brantford Bulldogs, Barrie Colts and Ottawa 67’s occupied the top three spots in the OHL’s Eastern Conference nearly all year long.

And unsurprisingly, they all made it into the conference’s semifinals.

The Colts, the second-seed, needed five games to dispense of the 67’s, while the top-seed Bulldogs swept North Bay.

The Eastern Conference final series opened earlier this week, with Brantford taking Game 1 4-3. Game 2 is set for tomorrow.

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The Colts took the first two games of the series back in Barrie, but Ottawa clawed back with a win in Game 3 on home ice on Tuesday.

A win by Barrie tonight will give the Colts the chance to put away the 67’s at home on Saturday. But a 67’s win ensures the series returns to Ottawa for Game 6 on Sunday.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

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The teams finished second and third, all but ensuring they would face off if they won their first round playoff series.

They did that in style.

The second-seed Barrie Colts eliminated Niagara in five games. The third-place Ottawa 67’s swept Kingston in four.

And with first-place Brantford cruising past their competition, the Colts and 67’s will play in the second-round of the playoffs, with Game 1 in Barrie set to go Thursday night.

The winner of the best-of-seven series will play either Brantford or fifth-seed North Bay in the conference championship, with a spot in the OHL title on the line.

The winner of the OHL championship will play in the Memorial Cup.

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Council’s public works and infrastructure committee on Monday agreed to advance a staff recommendation for a new transportation plan for the central Ottawa neighbourhood.

This includes a 12 to 15 month pilot project to create rush-hour bus-only lanes on a stretch of Bank Street from Highway 417 to the Rideau Canal. The proposal also calls for four segments of permanent bus-only lanes near Lansdowne Park.

The target start date is summer 2027.

Staff originally proposed the pilot would run 15 months, but Coun. Shawn Menard — whose ward includes the Glebe — asked for it to be trimmed to a year.

City council will ultimately decide on the length of the pilot when the proposal is brought forward for final approval.

Setting up bus-only lanes will cost $250,000, and the broader strategy — which will include what city staff call pedestrian and cycling improvements — will total $2.5 million.

Menard called the pilot a “long-time coming,” and praised staff for comprehensive consultations with businesses and residents in the Glebe.

“I think we’re in a much better spot now than we were before, and [I’m] very interested to be around, hopefully, when these results come out, and to see that proven data utilized in a good way for this streetscape.”

Transit advocates who spoke at the committee meeting on Monday largely supported the plan, saying buses running through the Glebe are often slowed by traffic along Bank

But Ajay Ramachandran of advocacy group Better Transit Ottawa called on the city to go further than having bus-only lanes in peak directions in the morning and afternoon. He warned that bus delays in one part of the city create a “cascade” effect elsewhere.

“If there are bus lanes only in the peak direction, the buses in the peak direction will still be canceled or delayed because of the non-peak direction buses,” he said.

Still, Ramachandran said it was “exciting to finally see this proposal getting close to being implemented,” and urged council to fast-track the plan to “give riders the relief they deserve during our bus reliability crisis.”

Darrell Cox, executive director of the Glebe Business Improvement Area, said his members opposed removing on-street parking spots for the bus-only lanes.

City staff said the permanent segments would eliminate 17 on-street parking spots, and the pilot project would restrict 146 spots in peak periods in the morning and afternoon.

Cox warned that most trips to Glebe businesses are made by car and making it more challenging to park could turn away customers. While there are spots available in nearby parking garages, he said the BIA’s research shows that customers overwhelmingly prefer on-street parking.

“Ensuring that the Glebe remains easy to reach is not a matter of convenience. It is matter of economic necessity,” Cox said, adding that some 80 members of the BIA signed an email petition opposing the project.

“At the end of the day, if access becomes too difficult, customers will not adapt. They will leave. If we get this wrong, we won’t just lose parking spaces, we lose businesses.”

Responding to a question from the committee, Cox said there are roughly 290 businesses located between Holmwood Avenue and the Queensway, but suspected more would sign the petition if BIA members went door-to-door.

A motion from Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo to make the pilot conditional on the approval of two-thirds of businesses along the strip was handily defeated. Only Lo and Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff voted in favour.

Coun. Laine Johnson, who supported the pilot, said she believed the goal is “to try and unlock the potential for this site for as many people as possible.”

“Right now, different users are being shut out or avoiding it for… a whole host of reasons, and right now, the city is making an investment to try and figure out how to maximize the potential for this site,” she said.

Johnson said proposals like bus-only lanes in the Glebe are needed to ensure that city investments in transit bear fruit, likening it to buying a pricey Peloton bike but only using it to hang your clothes on.

“I think as the city we do need to start being a little less apologetic about putting transit first,” she said.

Johnson also commended staff for promising to set up a website to update residents on developments on the pilot, and asked for regular updates during the length of the project.

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The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association’s (GOHBA) monthly report shows there were 278 sales recorded in February, up 9 per cent from the previous month and a 6.5 per cent improvement from February 2025.

However, year-to-date sales are down 6 per cent compared to 2025, signalling
“market conditions are still adjusting,” according to Jason Burggraaf, GOHBA’s executive director.

“Hopefully, recent clarity on the federal tax rebate will drive more sales in the last week of March and into April,” he said in a statement, referencing the Liberals’ bill to remove the GST on new-builds up to $1 million for first-time homebuyers becoming law earlier this month.

Geographically, the city’s south-end was the best performer in February, accounting for 46 per cent of all new home sales. The west end was next at 33, followed by the east with 19 per cent.

Central Ottawa, which offers more condominiums than other sections of the city, made up only 2 per cent of sales.

Reports have suggested sluggish condo pre-sales in the much larger Greater Toronto Area, depressing prices for existing inventory.

Similarly, condo apartments only made up 2 per cent of sales in Ottawa in February, while condo townhomes were responsible for 3 per cent.

Townhomes made up the lion’s share of sales, accounting for 54 per cent. Single-family homes made up 41 per cent.

Ottawa’s housing market has cooled since its pandemic heyday. While in 2023, year-to-date sales topped 1,200 by February, no year since has been higher than 567.

Sales for the first two months of 2026 total 533, the lowest since 2024, when interest rates shot up as the Bank of Canada sought to keep a lid on rising inflation.

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The 15-month pilot program would limit access to some lanes for just buses from 7 to 10 a.m. northbound on Bank Street from Highway 417 to the Rideau Canal. Bus-only lanes would operate along that stretch from 3 to 6 p.m. northbound.

There would be four segments of the lanes reserved for buses 24 hours a day, according to the city-staff recommended proposal. This would be a permanent change, with the segments mostly near Lansdowne Park. The longest is 190 metres and the shortest is around 70.

The plan is laid out in the agenda for the March 30 meeting of city council’s public works and infrastructure committee. The proposed start date is summer 2027.

City staff said in the report that introducing the bus-only lanes means eliminating some curbside parking on Bank Street.

Modelling of the project shows “modest travel time savings” and city staff believe the bus-only lanes will “increase reliability and reduce travel time variability,” the report reads.

Staff said bus-only lanes are most effective when replacing curbside parking, but acknowledged it could have “negative implications for businesses.”

“As a result, any extension of the bus lane hours outside the peak period, peak direction must carefully weigh the trade-offs associated with reducing on-street parking and curbside access availability.”

The report said segments of 24-hour bus lanes at Fifth Avenue will reduce the number of on-street parking spaces on Bank Street from 146 to 129, a drop of 17.

If the time-of-day bus lanes are extended to 24 hours-a-day, the street will lose 76 spaces on the east side and 70 on the west.

City staff said data shows there’s “generally sufficient parking available within the area to accommodate the loss of on-street parking spaces during a typical weekday.” They noted the presence of parking on side streets and municipal parking garages at Lansdowne and on Second Avenue.

But the report noted that the “study team heard concerns from businesses that these locations are not as convenient for customers,” with the Lansdowne garage “perceived as primarily serving the Lansdowne site itself.”

Other proposed changes to the Bank Street corridor include a new transit priority signal at Exhibition Way and introducing ladder style crosswalks at several crossings.

The proposal recommends improving cycling access on streets that run parallel to Bank, saying it’s “challenging to find space to enhance cycling in the corridor” because of the “constrained right-of-way north of Holmwood Avenue.”

Any decision from the committee would need to be approved by city council.

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Game 1 of their best-of-seven series will take place in Ottawa on Friday, followed by game 2 on Sunday.

The two Eastern Ontario teams closed out the regular season on Saturday, with Ottawa routing the Frontenacs 6-2 on home ice. Ottawa and Kingston also faced off in each team’s first game of the 2025-26 OHL season back in September, with Ottawa winning by a lopsided 6-1 margin.

The 67’s finished third in the conference with 100 points, while Kingston took the 6th spot with 71 points.

As the higher-seed, Ottawa has home-ice advantage and hosts games 1 and 2, and if necessary, games 5 and 7.

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