Ottawa Graffiti Program
The City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Police are operating a pilot
program to eradicate graffiti in our community. They ask you
to telephone 311 to report any graffiti tags on public property.
- If you see graffiti vandalism happening, it is considered a
crime in progress and can be reported by calling 9-1-1
- If your property has been vandalized with graffiti, call the
Ottawa Police Service Call Centre at 613-236-1222, ext. 7300.
- All hate-based graffiti should be reported to the Ottawa
Police Service Hate Crime Section at 613-236-1222, ext. 2466.
- If you see graffiti on public property (parks, roads, street
signs, utility boxes, newspaper boxes or Canada Post boxes),
call the City of
Ottawa at 3-1-1.
- If you wish to report graffiti vandalism anonymously, call
Crime Stoppers at 613-233-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-222-8477.
For further information, go to the
Ottawa Police website graffiti page. (Photo courtesy of
Fred Sherwin)
Enhanced Graffiti Management Strategy
City Council today (23 May 2007) approved an enhanced
Graffiti Management Strategy aimed at keeping Ottawa a
clean, safe and beautiful city. The updated strategy will
take effect in 2008 and builds upon lessons learned from the
Orléans Graffiti Management Pilot Project, best practices
from other municipalities, and responds to specific gaps
identified by Council and citizens. Several initiatives
under the new strategy include:
- Adding 5 new zero tolerance zones, to
the existing 5 downtown zero tolerance zones. In these
areas, City staff remove graffiti on City property
weekly. The new zones are: Cyrville/Carson Grove,
Southgate, Barrhaven, Orléans and Manor Park.
- The new by-law will make it easier
for enforcement authorities to charge graffiti vandals.
Also, under the by-law, property owners and businesses
will be required to remove graffiti from their property.
By-law and Regulatory Officers will take a common sense
approach with property owners to establish a reasonable
period of time in which to remove graffiti.
- Offering a community Graffiti
Symposium in early 2008, where graffiti removal
specialists will demonstrate how to prevent and clean
graffiti.
- Providing $140,000 in annual grants
to Ottawa's 14 Business Improvement Areas to assist
businesses with graffiti removal.
- Undertaking a public awareness
campaign to promote prevention and removal of graffiti
on private and business property.
- Providing volunteer groups with the
proper training, equipment and supplies to conduct
effective graffiti clean-ups.
- Providing an exemption in the by-law
for two existing legal graffiti walls. Staff will
monitor the effectiveness of the walls to deter graffiti
in the surrounding areas.
- Investigating options of offering a
mural program similar to Toronto's Graffiti
Transformation Program to facilitate underemployed youth
and community groups creating murals in problem areas.
The City's Graffiti Management Strategy has been in
operation since 2003, with a current budget of $585,000 per
year. As a result of Council's approval of the enhanced
Graffiti Management Strategy, Council will consider the
total funding request of $1.9 million during the 2008 budget
deliberations.
The City reminds residents that if you see graffiti, to
report it by calling 3-1-1. If you see graffiti vandalism
happening, it is considered a crime in progress and can be
reported by calling 9-1-1.
