Between substance use, violent incidents and a declining nightlife scene, the ByWard Market has taken a serious reputational hit among Ottawans in recent years.
The city is working alongside its paramedics to reduce the strain on health care professionals, focused primarily on meeting increasing demand at the heart of the city.
In a pilot project launched in April 2024, the Ottawa Paramedics Service’s Emergency Response Project is one way officials are trying to tackle emergency response delays in the area.
The program looks to provide paramedic service to at-risk populations in the ByWard Market by stationing a select number of paramedics to patrol the area in SUVs, said Tyler Leslie, the Ottawa Paramedics’ operations commander.
The goal, Leslie said in a statement, is to reduce the number of 911 calls and fatalities in the area, which means meeting “all patients where they are and providing patient-centred, feasible care options.”
The pilot project is one of many programs working alongside the city’s $129-million earmarked in 2024 to revamp the ByWard Market.
So, how is the market holding up now?
Double trouble: A growing epidemic
Ottawa’s emergency response pilot project — originally aimed at tackling the increase in hospital calls and overworked hospital staff — has also been working to address opioid-related deaths.
In 2024, there were 1,473 opioid-related 911 calls in Ottawa, more than triple the 448 reported in 2019.
Of the calls from 2024, 339 came from the ByWard Market, according to the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study. This marked an almost threefold increase in calls from the ByWard Market over 2019.
The majority of these calls were among men aged 25 to 44.
Alongside opioid-related emergencies and overdoses, violence in the ByWard Market is slowly decreasing, with numbers 19 per cent below national crime rates.
As a result, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe put forward his Public Safety Action plan for the city in December 2025. The plan includes $700,000 in expenses for expanding the Alternative Neighbourhood Crisis Response program.
The program, originally launched in August 2024, received 4,465 calls during its first year of operations — responding to 92 per cent of those calls without police intervention.
“Through the Public Safety Action Plan … we’re expanding our ANCHOR program and also providing more security in the ByWard Market,” Sutcliffe said in a press release.
“Our residents deserve to feel safe, at home, and throughout our city,” he said. “There is nothing more important than the safety of our residents.”
Growing initiatives:
On top of the paramedic pilot project and ANCHOR, the city also launched the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan, aimed at tackling the growing costs of living, working towards 20 per cent of new housing units in Ottawa being affordable.
Housing affordability is still a barrier to safety and well-being in the ByWard Market, said Myles Dingwall, senior communications officer for Ottawa Mission.
Dingwall said he advocates for more supportive housing from all levels of government.
“There is not enough of it,” he said, adding that affordable housing with services such as harm reduction and mental health supports is paramount.
“Sadly, people often lose their new homes upon receiving them and return to the shelter due to a lack of access to the support they need.”
The Ottawa Mission, among other organizations, is working to combat stigma, he said.
The city launched other community and city-oriented plans in 2025, including the safe spaces pilot project, a peer-led, daytime program with $500,000 in federal funding — an attempt to offer alternatives to substance use in the downtown core.
The city also conducted a four-year review of the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan, a ten-year initiative, slated to span between 2021 and 2031 with a new focus on the importance of youth social development.
“We have a team that’s trained in first aid and non-violent crisis intervention, dedicated to helping those inside and within the area of the shelter,” Dingwall said.
Ottawa also offers a variety of harm reduction services, including safe injection sites and naloxone take-home kit training and distribution. This complements educational courses on mental health illness and opioid use to train community members to help others in need.
Can market safety be restored?
Architect and public advocate Barry Padolsky said organizations working independently are somewhat ineffective in reducing the homelessness and addiction crisis in the ByWard Market.
Padolsky is suggesting a collaborative approach to solving safety concerns in the market.
“(What’s) missing is a coordinated, focused and joint approach with the City of Ottawa, various social agencies and the business sector to create a collective plan to improve the market.”
Padolsky said Ottawa can take inspiration from foreign safety measures. He pointed to countries like Norway as having a better grasp on issues that Ottawa’s ByWard Market is facing.
In 2024, there were roughly 342 opioid-related deaths in Norway, while in Canada, there were an estimated 6,161. Norway has introduced a Housing First program that prioritises permanent housing without prerequisites such as sobriety, with integrated support including addiction and mental health support.
Norway’s policies also focus on prevention and rehabilitation in and outside of establishments like prisons and mental health facilities.
ANCHOR, Ottawa’s Distress Centre, Youth Services Crisis Line, CMHA Ottawa, The Ottawa Mission are among the many Ottawa-based services that have reported being stretched thin.
“One year ago, we reported that our shelter had returned to over 10 per cent capacity since the end of the pandemic,” said Aileen Leo, director of communications for the Ottawa Mission in an April 2025 report.
“In addition to people sleeping on mats in our chapel, many more slept on chairs in our lounges waiting for a bed to open up.”
Padolsky said balance in the market can only be restored “collectively and institutionally,” with the social and governmental support, adding that “we simply aren’t effectively working on this.”
Featured graphic by Alisha Velji
