What’s open and closed in Ottawa on National Truth and Reconciliation Day

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On Thursday, Canada will mark the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day, a new federal statutory holiday that will honour the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.

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For the past few years, Sept. 30 has been commemorated as Orange Shirt Day, an Indigenous-led initiative that honours those who survived residential schools and those who did not. Keeping with this spirit, the federal government is encouraging all Canadians on Sept. 30 to wear orange shirts as a “symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.”

In Ottawa, the Heritage Building and Marion Dewar Plaza at City Hall and the OTTAWA sign in the ByWard Market will be illuminated in orange at sunset on Sept. 30 to mark the occasion.

As a federal holiday, National Truth and Reconciliation Day only applies to federal workplaces, though some other orders of government (and individual workplaces) are also marking the holiday, with the City of Ottawa closing some in-person services. However, Ontario has not recognized the day as a statutory holiday and, thus, schools are open, and provincially regulated workplaces are not affected.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board says it will provide special programming at its schools to mark the day and understands that “Indigenous families may decide to keep their children home on that day to engage in activities with family and community.”

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Here’s a guide to what’s open and closed on the holiday Thursday.

The Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun will both publish print editions on Thursday, while the Ottawacitizen.com and Ottawasun.com websites will be updated throughout the day.

Shopping

• Most grocery stores, shopping malls and other retail outlets are open. However, LCBO locations will only open at 12:00 p.m. and close at regular hours.

Federal Institutions

• All banks are closed

• Canada Post offices are closed

City Services

• Client services centres at Ottawa City Hall, Ben Franklin Place, 580 Terry Fox Dr. and 255 Centrum Blvd., and the City’s Provincial Offences Court at 100 Constellation Dr. will be closed.

• 3-1-1 Contact Centre will be open for urgent matters only.

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• All recreation facilities will be open as normally scheduled for drop-in activities.

• Registered programs at swimming pools will operate as normally scheduled.

• Garbage, recycling and green bins will collected as normally scheduled.

• All municipal child care centreswill be closed.

• All Ottawa Public Library branches will be closed.

• The Tom Brown respite centre at 141 Bayview Station Rd., the Bernard Grandmaître respite centre at 309 McArthur Ave., and the St. Paul’s Eastern United Church respite centre at 473 Cumberland St. will be closed.

Transportation, Transit and Parking 

• All parking restrictions will remain in effect. 

• OC Transpo and Para Transpo will operate on a regular weekday schedule.

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• The OC Transpo Customer Service Centre in the Rideau Centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; all other OC Transpo Customer Service Centres are currently closed.

Public Health 

• Visit Ottawapublichealth.ca for the hours of COVID-19 vaccine and testing clinics.

• The Sexual Health Clinic will be closed

• Site program office and supervised consumption services at 179 Clarence St. will be closed. The Site mobile van will operate from 5 to 11:30 pm.

• The Ottawa Public Health Information Centreand the COVID-19 Information line at 613-580-6744 will be closed.

• The Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 Vaccine Booking line at 613-691-5505 will be open from 8:30 am to 4 pm.

• Dental clinics will be closed.

• The Baby Help Line will be closed.

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Museums and Cultural Services 

• The Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Canadian War Museum will all offer free admission, however tickets will still need to be booked in advance.

• (The Canadian Museum of History is currently hosting the display Rekindled – Tradition, Modernity and Transformation in Indigenous Cultures. On Thursday, it will also offer a special screening of Innu Nikamu: Resist and Sing at three different times during the day.)

• Museums, the City of Ottawa Archives and Gallery 112 will be closed.

• Programming will be modified at some City arts centres, galleries, and theatres.