Ottawa's 'bubble bylaw' could take effect this summer

A file photo shows a verbal confrontation between Pride and anti-Pride protesters near a Broadview Avenue school in June 2023. Photo by JULIE OLIVER /POSTMEDIA

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After a nearly year-long wait, Ottawa city councillors will now have a chance to debate the controversial “bubble bylaw” that aims to restrict protests near schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities and community health facilities.

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According to a 39-page staff report, the bylaw would establish “safe access zones” around those facilities, which would extend 50 metres from walkways, doorways and driveways to those buildings instead of the original 80 metres proposed last year. Staff said the distance would still allow protesters to be heard while allowing people to access those facilities, while also preventing protesters from spilling into residential areas and impacting neighbouring communities. It is also consistent with restrictions in other municipalities like Toronto and Oakville, which passed similar bylaws in 2025.

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The bylaw could also ban loudspeakers and other sound amplification devices, as well as pyrotechnics.

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Facilities would have to apply for the safe-access zone status, which would be valid for a year with a chance to renew it. These designations would apply 24/7 to residential care facilities and to one hour before opening and closing at others. Staff said this regulation would provide more flexibility for demonstrations and didn’t interfere with public use of the facility.

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Labour disputes and marches passing through one of these facilities would be exempt from the bylaw, staff said.

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If passed by council, the bylaw will take effect on Aug. 1.

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“The recommended by-law responds to council’s direction and is designed to prioritize safe access to vulnerable social infrastructure while ensuring that measures are proportionate and minimally impair fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, assembly, and association,” the report read.

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Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster, who voted for the motion with “extreme reservations,” previously expressed concerns over the potential for handing sweeping new powers to police or bylaw officers. She also cited landmark protests that advanced LBTQ2S+ causes, like the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969, and said the act of protest was “not always convenient” and “not always quiet.”

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“The purpose is to be disruptive and it is to make people listen,” Troster said after a committee meeting in May 2025. “And people do it when they’re desperate, when they don’t have any other place or any other way that they can make their voice heard.”

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Community safety vs. right to protest

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The staff report noted that the bubble bylaw came amid a rise in hate-motivated crimes, demonstrations and public perception of community safety.

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Data from Statistics Canada suggests that the number of police-reported hate crimes has more than doubled in recent years, with 4,777 cases reported in 2023. Ontario ranked second among all provinces per capita with 15.6 incidents per 100,000 people. This was higher than the national average, which was 12 incidents per 100,000 people. Most police-reported hate crimes targeting a religion were directed at Jewish and Muslim populations.

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Data from the Ottawa Police Service’s Community Safety Data Portal also suggests that police-reported hate crime incidents have increased since 2018. However, there was a four-per-cent year-over-year decrease in hate crime incidents reported in 2024: 467, down from 487 in 2023.