The Ottawa Hospital’s New Campus

The Ottawa Hospital’s New Campus

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General

The Ottawa Hospital is working with partners right now to finalize the hospital’s design, cost and construction schedule. We expect to continue this phase of planning and development throughout 2025, after which we’ll be able to identify a clearer timeline for opening. 

The new hospital and campus will be located downtown Ottawa near the intersection of Carling Avenue and Preston Street and Dow’s Lake, just down the street from the Civic Campus.

The Ottawa Hospital is building this new hospital to replace the Civic Campus, which was built nearly 100 years ago. The new campus will be a catalyst for our ambitious vision to reshape the future of health care. It will help us to meet the needs of our growing and aging population and will help us continue to expand and enhance access to care for the people we serve in the region and as far away as Nunavut.

Designed with a focus on patient experience, our new state-of-the-art acute care facility and academic research centre will be one of the most modern, technologically advanced, and accessible hospitals in the country. 

Every patient will have their own room with accessible washroom, each equipped with a fully accessible washroom and space for a loved one to spend the night. The new hospital will be home to Eastern Ontario’s trauma centre with a rooftop heliport for more seamless access. A new emergency department will have more beds and exam rooms than currently available at existing TOH campuses, and there will also be more (and larger) operating rooms. Additional enhancements include new and expanded critical care, mental health and nephrology units, as well as specialty services and outpatient programs.

As a global leader in health-care research, the new campus will have research and education integrated into clinical spaces wherever possible. This includes one of the most innovative neuroscience research programs in the world. To create spaces that are inclusive, welcoming and functional for everyone, there will be dedicated spaces for spiritual reflection and spaces for Indigenous ceremony and healing.  

As the largest health-care provider in eastern Ontario, The Ottawa Hospital is already a vital hub in our regional health care system and a key part of Ottawa’s fabric. Now we’re building, expanding, and integrating our infrastructure, programs, and services to create a better hospital and health care system for the future of our community.

With modern infrastructure and cutting-edge technology supporting staff, physicians and researchers, The Ottawa Hospital’s new campus will improve access to care and expand support for life-saving research and innovation. It will also help us retain and attract front-line health-care workers and researchers from across Canada and the world, boosting Ottawa’s reputation as a global hub for medical discovery and innovation. 

The new campus is vital to our community, our economy, and our future. During construction alone, it will inject more than $2 billion into Ottawa’s economy, create more than 4,000 full-time jobs and generate a total economic output of almost $4 billion.

After construction, about 6,000 people will work at the new campus and that is only a portion of the more than 15,000 people who work and practice medicine every day across all TOH campuses.

Costing is not yet final. As of February 2024, The Ottawa Hospital is working with project partners to finalize the design, pricing, and schedule for the new hospital. This work is done through a development phase, after which time we’ll have a better idea of costs.  

We are still in the early stages of planning. We will be working with the Ministry of Health and the City of Ottawa to determine the best options on how to move forward.

Design and construction

The new campus will be well-connected to public transit and bicycle paths with ample parking and accessible parking spaces.

Accessibility standards at the new campus will exceed in many areas those required by the province and will incorporate many best practices of universal accessibility so that people living with a wide range of disabilities can safely and easily access the hospital as patients, visitors, and staff members.

Every floor in the hospital will have “all access” washrooms – these are washrooms that are gender-neutral, have a large wheelchair turning circle, and have adult change tables.
 

The Ottawa Hospital is committed to environmental responsibility and sustainability. The new campus will be designed to use less energy and water, and produce less waste. Thoughtful landscaping around the hospital will encourage native plant species and native pollinators.

The new hospital will primarily be heated by a low-temperature hot water network that uses heat recovered from a chilled water network as its main energy source. This approach will use the large amount of heat recovery available on the hospital’s internal cooling loads to reduce the need to generate heat by other means, which in turn, reduces the overall energy consumption at the site.

Throughout the project, TOH is working closely with arborists to preserve as many trees as possible. Some trees must be removed due to construction. A tree conservation plan was developed with input from arborists and in consultation with the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission. This was part of The Ottawa Hospital's master site plan approved by the City of Ottawa in 2021.

The design team is developing a strategy to minimize the potential risk to birds, in alignment with Ottawa’s Bird Safe Guidelines, Safe Wings Ottawa Major Projects recommendations, and the National Capital Commission’s Bird-Safe Guidelines. This work includes exploring high-contrast patterns on glass and glazed surfaces, as well as bird-friendly landscaping and controlled lighting with automatic shutoff systems.

The Province of Ontario will fund most of the construction costs for the new hospital, while The Ottawa Hospital is required to fund a portion of the costs called the “local share.” The Ottawa Hospital Foundation will contribute to the local share through the $500 million Campaign to Create Tomorrow. The Ottawa Hospital is exploring opportunities to fulfil the remaining portion of the local share through long-term revenue and financing strategies like parking revenues and retail operations.

Parking

The site plan includes about parking garage with about 2,900 spaces, which is currently under construction. The garage will include 80 accessible spaces, 153 spaces for people with limited mobility, and 347 secure bike parking spots. A limited number of parking spots, including accessible parking spots, will be available close to the main entrance and the Emergency Department entrance.

Building the parking garage first ensures we will have parking for patients at the time of opening. It also ensures that parking is available for workers during construction of the main hospital building to avoid neighbourhood congestion.

It also gives us a jump start on construction while the design and planning of the main hospital building are completed. This approach streamlines construction on site so we’re not building the parking garage and main hospital at the same time.