Ottawa moves forward in bid to buy private landfill amid province-wide shortage

Ottawa is moving ahead with a bid to buy a privately owned, provincially approved landfill as Ontario faces a waste-capacity crunch, despite strong community opposition.

The City of Ottawa is pressing ahead with its bid to purchase a privately owned landfill in the city’s east end, amid community concerns, strict confidentiality rules, and growing concerns about Ontario’s dwindling landfill capacity.

The 475-acre Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre (CRRRC), the first and only landfill approved in Ontario in more than 20 years, is currently for sale through a competitive bidding process.

City officials say securing the site could shape Ottawa’s long-term waste strategy for decades.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who addressed council following an in-camera session Nov 21., emphasized that the public’s frustration is understandable but that the core issue is ownership, not land use.

“The decision is not around whether the site will be a landfill,” Sutcliffe said. “It is already going to be a landfill and no matter who buys it, it will operate as a landfill.”

He stressed that the process is constrained by a legally binding non-disclosure agreement with the seller, Taggart Miller Environmental Services.

“The city is bound by a non-disclosure agreement by the seller of this property,” he said.

“The material contained in the report is as much as permitted for us to discuss today. I know that members of the public have questions… about many aspects of this transaction.”