26 minute read
No city honours its businesses better
2021
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
When Jim Taggart was a kid, there was no yellow school bus waiting to greet him after class. He got picked up by a fuel truck.
It would drive the 13-year-old boy to his father’s machine shop, where he would spend the rest of his day working until it was time for him and his dad to head home for dinner.
“The driver of the fuel truck was a fellow by the name of Robbie,” recalled Taggart, 79, during an interview at the head office of the Taggart Group of Companies in Ottawa’s south end.
It was always expected that Taggart, who worked during his summers as a mechanic in the shop, would one day get his engineering degree from Carleton University and join the small construction business started by his father in 1948.
And that’s exactly what he did.
“I never really thought about doing anything else,” said Taggart, who quite enjoyed working with engines, motors and pumps. “I had a mechanical interest and background, and that’s the career path I followed.”
The second-generation entrepreneur was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ottawa Board of Trade and Ottawa Business Journal. The presentation took place during the Best Ottawa Business Awards, colloquially known as The BOBs. The awards program had a small invite-only reception on Nov. 19 followed by a live broadcast on Nov. 25.
For more than 25 years, Taggart has been chairman of the Taggart Group of Companies, a major force in the construction and real estate industry in Ottawa, Kingston and Eastern Ontario. The enterprise group, which employs more than 600 people, consists of Taggart Construction, Doran Contractors, Taggart Realty Management, Tamarack Homes and its recent acquisition, Tartan Homes.
Taggart is the eldest of seven kids born in 1942 to Harold and Muriel Taggart. He was soon joined by Martha and younger brothers Tom, Ian, Keith, Paul and Chris. Only Paul is no longer here, having passed away three years ago.
Taggart remembers his mom, who lived to be nearly 90, as having a knack for “making you feel like you were the only person in the world”. His dad, who died in 1992 at age 75, had more of a “rough and tough exterior” but, he added, was a softie on the inside.
“Both my parents were quite family orientated,” said Taggart, who has fond childhood memories of skiing in the winter months and of spending time at their family cottage on Big Rideau Lake. “The cottage was my father’s pride and joy,” said Taggart while remembering how his dad would get him and his siblings out of bed by 8 a.m. for breakfast, followed by chores until lunchtime. “Then, we were off the hook and could do our own
thing.”
Taggart grew up in the Island Park Drive area. As the family expanded, so did his childhood home at 506 Mayfair Ave. It was one of several houses that Harold built in the area in the 1940s.
Taggart credits his parents with teaching him and his siblings to always put family first, to take care of one another, and to keep the family close. “It’s been our guiding principle, established by my parents,” said Taggart, who believes his greatest contribution to the company has been helping everyone to get along.
“Make sure that you don’t sweat the small stuff. If you start picking on the faults of your family members that work with you, you’re going to be in trouble before very long.”
As with all families, there have been disagreements and personality clashes, acknowledged Taggart. “We work it out.”
In 1974, at the relatively young age of 58, Harold sold his business, which originally specialized in sewer and road construction, to sons Jim and Ian, along with son-inlaw Dave Parkes, who married Martha. The men would lead the company in its expansion. Paul and Chris came on board once they completed their schooling. Tom, who became a partner at Gowlings, started working for the Taggart Group after he reached mandatory retirement age at his law firm.
Similarly, Keith of Hurley’s, Hooters and Hard Rock Cafe fame, joined later on.
The Taggart and Parkes clan is well known for its philanthropy. The family made an historic donation of $2 million, followed later by another $1 million, to the local YMCA-YWCA as part of a major capital campaign led by Jim and Keith.
Earlier this year, Taggart’s niece, Michelle, vice-president of planning and development at Tamarack Homes, announced on behalf of the family’s foundation a $1.4 million donation to BGC Ottawa for its new clubhouse in the south end. Michelle also volunteers as a board member with the non-profit organization. Continued on next page
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“Our business has always been primarily a family business,” said Taggart. “We never were driven, I don’t think, to squeeze the last nickel out of every deal we did. We thought it was more important to build a business that the family could all live on and that was able to give back to the community.
“I think if you’ve had a good life made available to you, you should give back.”
The family business was expanded early on so that each of the second-generation leaders ran their own company or division. They set it up as an equal partnership with the idea that, regardless of which division they were each running, they would all be working together toward a common goal and could share equally in the profits.
With a family of seven siblings, plus their spouses, it didn’t take long until the Taggart and Parkes offspring began to outnumber every other business family in Ottawa. The third generation consists of 24 members, of which half work together at the Taggart Group.
One of the reasons why the Taggart Group works well as a family business is due to the structure that’s been put in place for ownership and succession planning, said Taggart.
Family members wanting to join a division as an owner or manager are required to first get a university education, followed by a minimum of five years’ work experience outside the family business.
Once that family member has worked hard and demonstrated their ability to contribute to the business, there’s an assessment process conducted by the current owners to decide if and when that family member should be invited into the ownership group, said Taggart. In other words, rising to the top is about competency, not nepotism.
The company also has in place various rules and guidelines to reduce potential for conflict. For example, there’s a mandatory retirement from ownership of the operating companies at age 65, at which point the partners start getting bought out by the other owners. Retired partners are invited to sit on the advisory board to the current ownership group to ensure smooth transition of the business and family values.
Taggart has been serving as chairman of the Taggart Group since 1995 and retired from the day-to-day business in 2007 at the age of 65. He has no plans of stepping down as chairman or from the advisory board “until they kick me out, I guess”.
Taggart expressed approval toward the direction that the company is heading. The group has twice been named in the Top 20 Contractors in Canada by On-Site Magazine.
“It’s always hard to give up the reins and to think that anyone else can do it as well as you did but, certainly, the business has expanded and grown and has been very successful under the current leadership.”
Two of Taggart’s three children are in leadership positions. His son, Mike, is president of Taggart Construction and Doran Contractors while youngest daughter Julie, who’s also a board member with The Ottawa Hospital Foundation and Christie Lake Kids, is co-president of Taggart Realty Management. His eldest, Patti, an early childhood educator, runs her own retail store, Tag Along Toys.
Taggart was married for 43 years to Judy, who passed away in the spring of 2009 from ovarian cancer. Not long after, Jane Panet also lost her husband, Ottawa judge Jean-Antoine de Lotbinière Panet.
Taggart had known Jane from his Carleton University days and from years of socializing together as couples, particularly at Mont Ste. Marie ski resort. In June 2011, the pair got married. “I said, ‘I think I better grab that girl because I know her well enough that we can get along’,” Taggart quipped.
Reflecting back on his career, Taggart CLOCKWISE: Taggart family photo from 2013; Taggart family on Jezebel circa 1958; Taggart jobsite 1949; founder Harold Taggart.
singled out the building of the Acres Road Pumping Station as the project he’s most proud of. “It was a difficult but rewarding job,” said Taggart while proving the old saying, ‘once an engineer, always an engineer’ to be true as he described in some detail how they were able to complete the project, despite challenging soil conditions.
As for the future of the Taggart Group, it’s still too early to say whether there will be a fourth generation of leadership, he said. “We’ll see. I hope so. I hope so.”
LEADERSHIP TEAM
• The Taggart Group of Companies chairman Jim Taggart • The Taggart Group of Companies
CEO and CFO Pierre Bergeron • Taggart Construction and Doran
Contractors president Michael Taggart • Taggart Realty Management copresidents Jeff Parkes and Julie Taggart • Tamarack Homes and Tartan Homes co-presidents Chris Taggart and
Scott Parkes
DEALS OF THE YEAR: RETAIL
What did one of Ottawa’s most famous farms do during the pandemic?
It got into the cider making business, of course.
Like other tourism businesses, the pandemic crippled Saunders Farm for many months.
Its well-known owner, Mark Saunders, closed a deal to purchase Spencerville-based micro-cidery Flying Canoe Hard Cider.
Its cider is now sold at LCBO outlets and grocery stores. Saunders even opened a taproom at the farm.
Aside from buying the farm from his parents, Saunders calls the deal to purchase Flying Canoe Hard Cider the biggest investment he has ever made.
DEALS OF THE YEAR: REAL ESTATE
When the pandemic emptied downtown office towers, one company spotted an opportunity.
Ottawa-based TCC Canada - already the city’s largest provider of co-working space - doubled down on the idea that many businesses would want flexible office arrangements.
So when Shopify decided to dump its space at 150 Elgin St. - arguably the best designed office space in all of Ottawa - TCC wasted no time in striking a sublease agreement.
As businesses look to bring teams back together, TCC says 150 Elgin St. offers a premium employee experience without a long-term lease commitment.
The deal is significant because it might signal a powerful new trend in commercial real estate.
DEALS OF THE YEAR: FINANCE
Remote work is accelerating demand for cloud storage and software-as-a-service.
Rewind is an Ottawa-based startup founded in 2015.
Originally it specialized in backup and recovery of e-commerce data for Shopify merchants. Since then it has expanded its backups service to other platforms, protecting its clients from cyber-attacks and power outages.
Rewind’s revenues have more than doubled year over year.
How big is Rewind’s opportunity?
In two separate fundraising rounds in 2021, Rewind raised almost $100 million Canadian in venture capital.
Said its CEO: “We see Rewind as a pillar of the cloud backup and recovery space.”
RETAIL DEAL OF THE YEAR:
SAUNDERS FARMS
REAL ESTATE DEAL OF THE YEAR:
TCC CANADA
FINANCE DEAL OF THE YEAR:
REWIND
DEALS OF THE YEAR: TECHNOLOGY
The pandemic taught us that high-speed internet access is key to our modern economy.
TECHNOLOGY DEAL OF THE YEAR:
TELESAT
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Here’s the challenge. In a massive country like Canada how do you deliver high-speed internet service to rural and remote areas?
Enter Ottawa-based Telesat.
Telesat is planning a network of 298 low Earth satellites, which operate 30x closer to our planet.
Telesat’s Lightspeed network should start operating in 2024 and ultimately connect 40,000 Canadian households.
The project will cost billions of dollars.
In August, Telesat announced a $1.44-billion deal with the federal government.
Said its CEO: “Telesat has just taken a major step forward in getting this ambitious project fully financed.”
Telesat also planned and executed an IPO.
DEALS OF THE YEAR: TOURISM
The pandemic had us locked up for a long, long time.
It also put a hold on sporting events, live music concerts and art shows.
But Bluesfest and RBC had a vision to jumpstart the local entertainment and tourism sector with an awe-inspiring show that invited attendees to literally step into famous paintings from Vincent van Gogh.
Beyond Van Gogh The Immersive Experience presented by RBC was among the first major cultural events the public could attend in the pandemic.
The exhibit was the hot ticket of the summer season.
It’s estimated that 115,000 people attended this summer and 200 people were employed.
Said RBC’s regional president: “The exhibit made people feel good at a time when we really needed it.”
TOURISM DEAL OF THE YEAR:
BLUESFEST AND RBC
BEST BUSINESS: CALIAN
BEST BUSINESS: LEE VALLEY
BEST BUSINESS: THE REGIONAL GROUP
BEST BUSINESSES: CALIAN
Despite the pandemic, Calian’s revenue was up by 26 per cent and it welcomed more than a thousand new employees last year, all while delivering through four different business lines.
With products and solutions for private sector, government and defence customers in North American and global markets, the diverse and progressive Calian team credits its success to its ability to adapt.
They quickly accommodated remote work and support for staff without sacrificing their impact on their consumers and clients.
Calian prioritized supporting healthcare for military families and building relationships with Indigenous communities and businesses, developed products and services that have helped customers better serve the public, and increased efficiency in responding to the health needs of communities.
BEST NEW BUSINESS:
CONVERGENCE DESIGN SERVICES
BEST NEW BUSINESS: BRANCH AV
BEST NEW BUSINESS: TEHAMA Talk about good timing.
Six months before the pandemic hit, Lee Valley completed a digital transformation that placed them two steps ahead with a fresh platform and digital skillset.
They immediately launched Ship from Store, curbside pick-up, same-day shipping, and pioneered an industry-first mobile contactless shopping experience.
Lee Valley credits its 18-month success to a forward-thinking and focused leadership team that prioritized safety and appreciation for its workforce without compromising the quality of its products.
The company is involved in charitable support for sustainability and environmental conservation and donated toolkits to a vocational training centre in Africa.
THE REGIONAL GROUP
Pandemic be damned.
The Regional Group is driven by longterm prosperity, resulting in 150 new employees and a 350 per cent increase in revenue.
The Regional Group emphasizes a balance of tradition and modernity and a workplace fueled by opportunity and appreciation.
The company is an active sponsor of Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa, and Tree Canada’s National Greening Program.
The Regional Group’s workspace transitioned to remote work within only one day and their construction sites and offices are dedicated to a safe and confident workplace, maintaining support for new and existing employees.
BEST NEW BUSINESS: CONVERGENCE DESIGN SERVICES
Offering full-service design engineering from industrial design, hardware/software, product management, mechanical and acoustics, Convergence fully supports its clients from design to production management.
Despite the pandemic, it saw a 34 per cent increase in revenue in 2021 and sales surpassed $1 million.
While COVID-19 shut down industry trade shows, Convergence focused marketing on localized connections, letting its skilled team articulate and solve client needs in various industries such as
BRANCH AV
Branch AV stemmed from a group of former co-workers who banded together to create an inclusive, diverse, and broadminded organization – all with unique abilities, experiences, ideas, and opinions.
They combine unparalleled audiovisual technology expertise and a rock-solid process with a people-first culture.
Branch AV credits its success to a conviction that technology is there to serve people, not the other way around.
When this new business did not qualify
BEST PERFORMANCE IN HR:
FULLSCRIPT for COVID-19 grants or loans, it adjusted to a remote workplace and helped customers to adapt to the pandemic with the help of technology.
A commitment to investing in the right people, technologies and processes has allowed Branch AV to continue its remarkable growth.
TEHAMA
Tehama’s claim to fame is providing a fast, easy and secure way to deploy a virtual workforce.
Since the onset of COVID-19, Tehama has increased its customer base by more than 150 per cent, doubled its headcount, and increased monthly revenue by 170 per cent.
In the face of the public health crisis, Tehama rose to the occasion to meet increased demand from its clients.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN HR: FULLSCRIPT
Fullscript’s success in HR is a result of its Well-Being Program, which addresses mental, physical, aspirational, and environmental wellness in the workplace. Continued on next page
We want to sincerely thank our talented team and customers who have contributed to our success.
We are honoured to be a Best Ottawa Business award recipient for 2021.
2021
Go deep and explore RBR careers by visiting
www.rbr-global.com/careers
$1M
Over 1 million dollars was raised by Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend participants and local charities in 2021—an event record!
We are grateful to them and their generous donors. We wish to dedicate the Best Not-For-Profit Business Award to everyone who contributed to this success. Thank you from everyone at Run Ottawa.
If your organization is looking to make a difference in the community, join the 2022 Charity Challenge! Visit runottawa.ca for more information.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE: ROSS VIDEO
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With the goal of “helping people get better,” and prioritizing employees, Fullscript was able to ensure its workplace felt cared for and appreciated.
Their dedication to workplace wellness has paid off with a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor, an Employee Development platform, and an open-minded, wellness-oriented work culture.
Ross Video strives for unmatched customer service. Delivering a superior customer experience is a part of the company vision and mission statement.
In customer surveys since April 2019, 90 per cent of customers reported they were satisfied and almost 6,000 customers gave Ross Video a positive performance review.
The most recent survey places Ross Video as an industry leader in customer service. Ross Video embraces the idea that the post-sales experience is just as important as the pre-sales experience and the products that are sold.
The system of client referrals is a longstanding one in the legal world.
By using data and digital marketing, Auger Hollingsworth took this to the next level.
The law firm expanded not only its reach, but also its reputation.
Auger Hollingsworth started offering unbranded, home and comfort-focused gifts from the firm and offset their overall outlay for marketing and gifts with the added $1 million in revenue.
Peer-to-peer recognition and referrals were also critical as Auger Hollingsworth established long-term cooperative, reciprocal relationships.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN MARKETING:
AUGER HOLLINGSWORTH
BEST PERFORMANCE IN SALES:
NOIBU TECHNOLOGIES
BEST PERFORMANCE IN DE&I:
FANSAVES
BEST PERFORMANCE IN SALES:NOIBU TECHNOLOGIES
Noibu Technologies set a goal of expanding its target market to larger companies.
Noibu is now sourcing leads with over 10 times the average traffic than the previous year. Its strategy paid off as it doubled the size and the results seen by its sales team over the last two quarters.
As a result, some of the largest deals were closed in the last six months.
And the best two quarters were this year, with 85 new clients in 2021.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN
SUSTAINABILITY: ASSENT COMPLIANCE
BEST PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: CULTURE CHECK
BEST NOT-FOR-PROFIT: RUN OTTAWA
BEST PERFORMANCE IN DE&I: FANSAVES
Diversity, equality and inclusion are key values at FanSaves.
The company is led by women despite working in the male-dominated “sports tech sector.”
The company is dedicated to gender equality, with equal pay and raises, an inclusive hiring process, and a virtual open-door policy to allow open communication with their employees.
FanSaves prioritizes equality and diversity, providing space for their employees to share concerns. The company was co-founded by Shannon Ferguson, who dedicates her time to panels, podcasts and keynote speaking to promote gender equity in the workplace.
Assent Compliance is committed to promoting strong corporate social responsibility values throughout its operations and supply chain, as per the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights.
Assent experts monitor the CSR landscape to keep the world’s largest corporations informed about global best practices and disseminate free-to-access education throughout the entire supplier landscape.
The company stocks its offices with sustainable supplies and actively partners with suppliers that respect environmental and ethical standards.
Culture Check is a social impact business that provides support, education and best practices to address racial discrimination in the workplace.
That includes free and confidential frontline support for victims of racial discrimination in the workplace. It collects data and stories and turns these into actionable insights. Finally, it provides these insights to corporate partners.
Plus, the work that Culture Check does with companies helps to subsidize initiatives for racialized professionals. This enables the company to empower and educate both groups.
BEST NOT-FOR-PROFIT: RUN OTTAWA
In the last year, Run Ottawa has raised more than $1 million for 51 charities, including United Way, CHEO, and the Ottawa Food Bank. Over the last 10 years, Run Ottawa’s Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend has raised more than $6 million for hundreds of charities, with the event creating both a platform for charities to spread awareness and an opportunity to raise funds.
As the region’s top tourism event, the Race Weekend has generated hundreds
KNBA TEAM OF THE YEAR:
BLACKBERRY QNX
of millions of dollars in economic activity for Ottawa over its 45-year history, with the funds going directly to the charities involved.
KNBA TEAM OF THE YEAR: BLACKBERRY QNX
The BlackBerry QNX engineering team delivers innovative products and engineering services to its customers, ensuring that mission-critical devices are marketed without compromising safety, security or reliability.
The industry-firsts delivered by the team in 2021 are powering the future of systems for factory automation, autonomous vehicles, surgical robotics, and more.
BlackBerry QNX credits its engineering team’s diverse skills, interests, backgrounds, and talents with contributing to the team’s strengths and winning attitude.
KNBA COMPANY OF THE YEAR: ROSS VIDEO
In 2021, Ross Video broke through the 1,000-employee threshold, grew revenue in the fiscal year by just under 5 per cent, despite the pandemic, and acquired two U.S.-based companies.
That brings its total number of acquisitions to 18.
Ross also announced a $15-million expansion to its primary manufacturing plant.
For Ross, innovation isn’t just about creating new technology, it also means doing more with existing technologies for the benefit of our customers.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN CO-OP: THE MINTO GROUP
For post-secondary students in Ottawa looking for hands-on work experience in their fields, the Minto Group is ready to help.
KNBA COMPANY OF THE YEAR:
ROSS VIDEO
BEST PERFORMANCE IN CO-OP:
THE MINTO GROUP
BEST PERFORMANCE IN EXPORT: RBR
The Minto Group works with all four post-secondary institutions in Ottawa to hire co-op students, providing reallife work experience and post-graduate opportunities.
Students are hired from a variety of academic areas to fill positions as data analysts, service technicians, site coordinators, estimators and various construction roles.
Many students report going back for multiple work terms.
Others find work with the organization after graduation, thanks to the supportive and collaborative work environment.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN EXPORT: RBR
RBR’s dedication and innovation has paid off with its industry-leading exports of oceanographic instruments, earning them #NEXTBIGTHING: DUNIA PAYMENT
#NEXTBIGTHING: FUNDMORE.AI
the award for best performance in exports. The Kanata-based firm spent the pandemic designing and manufacturing their worldleading ocean instruments, products and tools for international clients.
Early last year, RBR landed $2 million in federal funding to advance and accelerate its production of high-tech ocean sensors, placing RBR in the lead in both exports and their industry.
#NEXTBIGTHING: DUNIA PAYMENT
Dunia Payment offers a full-service banking experience built for Africa’s growing digital generation.
It was founded by international students at the University of Ottawa.
Their mobile wallet app DuniaPay lets users send and receive money, pay in stores with a simple QR code, save in-app and more all from their phones.
The mobile-based approach allows Dunia to cover the African region from major cities to small villages and makes routine financial transactions accessible and affordable for everyone living in Africa. Dunia is seeing its monthly transaction volume increase, with 25,000 monthly active users.
FUNDMORE
FundMore has created an automated underwriting system that uses machine learning to streamline loans, such as mortgages. Its customers range from #NEXTBIGTHING: CANIMMUNIZE
mortgage investment companies to banks.
FundMore’s AI decision engine identifies risks and provides clear insights as to how an approval was recommended.
Their AI document reader quickly analyzes physical documents and then validates data such as income and credit worthiness from third-party partners.
The platform improves the lender and borrower experience, reduces risk, reduces funding times and application evaluation by more than 90 per cent.
FundMore has grown its employee base by 60 per cent in the past quarter to 24 FTEs.
And its executive team has 70+ years of experience in wealth management, credit lending and financial technology.
CANIMMUNIZE
CANImmunize is an Ottawa-based technology company specializing in immunization software.
It developed the CANImmunize app, a pan-Canadian digital immunization tracking system that helps Canadians keep track of their vaccinations with a mobile app and web portal.
The team offers digital solutions such as CANImmunize Shield to businesses, health care organizations and governments for vaccinations and tracking for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and other immunization needs.
CANImmunize Shield helps employers maintain a safe workplace by collecting employee vaccination records and tracking vaccination rates securely and privately to protect staff and customers.
In the last 12 months, revenue has grown almost four-fold, while the team has gone from six to more than 40 employees.
How building height limitations are contributing to Ottawa’s housing crisis
In 2020 the city of Ottawa declared a housing emergency. Issues of housing affordability and availability underlie this declaration. At the same time, the city declared a climate crisis and enacted a new Official Plan with a goal of increasing housing density within the urban boundary.
But there is a disconnect between these density goals and the Official Plan.
The new Official Plan (OP) limited height on minor corridors to four stories instead of six in the downtown, inner urban, outer urban and suburban transects. In the inner urban area, for example, this includes Parkdale, Holland, Pinecrest, Gladstone, Kirkwood, Donald, Cummings and Churchill Avenues. Many of these are already home to midrise or taller buildings.
By limiting development on these streets to four stories, the city has virtually guaranteed that they will be undeveloped – because it’s not profitable unless it’s expensive housing.
For example, a 30mx30m (100ft x100ft) infill property that contains one level of below grade parking, ground floor shops and residential units above makes a good case study: • At six stories you can get 50 residential units in the building, but at four stories, it drops to 30 units. Costs are generally calculated by the return on the number of residential units. Spread over
30 units instead of 50, the cost per unit goes up. • Core costs for things like sprinkler, fire alarm and HVAC systems; elevators; parking/ basement and servicing are effectively the same whether it’s 30 or 50 units. • Planning costs for site plan approval, as well as timelines for review and approval are the same regardless of whether it’s a four storey or six storey building.
With the cost of services and planning now shared by fewer units, expect the cost of construction for those units to go up from at least $350/sq ft to more than $450/sq ft.
This decision virtually guarantees that if housing is built on these streets, it will be luxury, high-end units, unaffordable to the average family. It’s more likely that the lots will remain undeveloped or will be underbuilt – defeating our goals of moderate intensification – sending more people to outlying areas or concentrating development in highrises on major streets.
The rationale for reducing this height limit has been to reduce friction between detached homes bordering these minor corridors and the potential for development on them. This argument doesn’t hold water: development applications are subject to public input and there will be just as many complaints and delays for a four storey infill as there will for a six storey. What will result is more applications coming forward that challenge this height limit – demanding eight or 10 storeys – in part to help cover the cost of applications and years of delay through planning appeals.
An argument used in favour of this decision is that four storey buildings will allow sustainable wood construction. While mass timber construction is possible, there isn’t enough repeatability of the floor plate to make a four storey building viable. That same rationale applies to concrete or steel construction.
It’s unfortunate that leadership has opted to limit the moderate intensification we need on these streets. These minor corridors could create hundreds of homes and places for small businesses to thrive. They could provide sensitive, well designed, infill projects that show climate leadership.
Toon Dreessen, president, Architects DCA
Toon Dreessen is president of Ottawabased Architects DCA and past-president of the Ontario Association of Architects. For a sample of Architects DCA’s projects, check out the firm’s portfolio at bit.ly/DCAportfolio. Follow @ArchitectsDCA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
