City shuffles bureaucracy to score wins on housing, growth, climate change

A major shakeup at Ottawa city hall is spinning off a new department tasked with tackling council's top priorities.

As of Wednesday, the new strategic initiatives department is taking over responsibility for economic development, climate change and several key aspects of housing.

The aim is to help the city lobby for provincial and federal funding for those priorities, while attracting new talent to a leadership team hit by a recent wave of retirements. Above all, the change seeks to create a clear line of accountability by putting one person in charge of getting results on those files.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the city deals with so many different topics that it's tough to "achieve real progress in key areas."

"I see this as a huge opportunity to move forward with a strategic focus on the things that are important," he said.

Ryan Perrault will lead the new strategic initiatives department as its interim general manager. (City of Ottawa)

For now, the new department will be run by Ryan Perrault, currently the manager of business and technical support services with the emergency and protective services department. But the city is planning to launch a recruitment competition next week to find a permanent chief.

The city's planning, real estate and economic development department previously had a major role in tackling those priorities.

It's dealing with a heavy workload as it juggles weighty files such as the Lansdowne Park redevelopment and a massive rewrite of the city's zoning bylaw, while rushing to meet faster provincial timelines for development approvals.

New department will be 'laser-focused'

The city's top bureaucrat, city manager Wendy Stephanson, said transferring some of its other roles to the new department will leave a "pure planning department" that's "laser-focused" on meeting the city's housing targets.

It will keep responsibility for zoning, reviewing development applications and issuing building permits, while "strategic housing projects" and the city's real estate office will fall under the new strategic initiatives department.

The shakeup is not expected to create or erase any new positions, according to Stephanson, but is simply about reworking reporting and organization at city hall. The city was not immediately able to provide an estimate of how many jobs will fall under the new department.

City manager Wendy Stephanson attends a city council in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Jean Delisle/CBC)

In Stephanson's view, the three top priorities moving under Perrault's authority are more closely related than they might seem. She feels responsibility for some of them was too "spattered" across different areas, using climate change as an example.

"There were various pockets within the organization that had roles and responsibilities with respect to delivering on that," said Stephanson. "This is now a single point of accountability in the organization. It's very clear in terms of who's doing what."

Stephanson said she hopes the shakeup will lead to results regarding council's priorities within a year.

"I'm hoping to have a couple of quick wins right out of the gate," she said.