At city council’s built heritage committee meeting on Thursday, the question of how much involvement the city should have in design questions related to heritage home changes was raised.
Referring to a proposed heritage home addition in Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District, one committee member raised questions over the material the builders intended to use for the addition. The member’s concern was that visitors to the area would eventually not be able to tell the difference between the original, heritage parts of the house and the proposed addition.
Another committee member disagreed, though, expressing their appreciation for the designer’s attempt at respecting the original design of the house.
This disagreement opened up a discussion surrounding the cost and red tape associated with heritage home changes in Ottawa more generally.
“The costs of going through our process is a major barrier,” said one committee member. “It would be interesting to find out how much this adds to the cost.”
The designer of the addition answered that the cost of submitting an application is approximately $2,500.
Coun. Rawlson King noted that council is looking at ways to reduce this cost.
“Council has been working through its Housing Acceleration Plan and through several initiatives to attempt to reduce red tape,” he said.
Rawlson was referring to a plan that was approved by the Joint Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committee on October 1, 2025.
The plan has five key objectives: 1) Simplify the regulatory environment and expedite approvals processes, 2) Evolve City culture to be housing development friendly, 3) Introduce more flexibility in fees and charges, 4) Consolidate and strengthen capacity for Affordable Housing development, and 5) Unlock urban intensification and Transit Oriented Development.
Timelines for implementation across the various action items range from December 2025 to Q2 2026, so changes related to red tape and costs for these kinds of additions should be considered soon.
Ultimately, the proposed home addition was approved by the committee.
