September 2026 Newsletter

From Rob Attrell, Board Director and Outreach Committee Chair

The Timeline of the Jeanne d’Arc / Orléans Blvd Saga (up to August 2026)

On August 19, 2026, the city of Ottawa announced with the federal government that money from the federal Active Transportation Fund would be used to help pay for a road renewal, safe, protected intersections, and a bike lane retrofit for sections of Orleans Blvd and Jeanne d’Arc Blvd N in Orleans.

I appeared in an interview that evening on the news: New bike lanes coming to Orléans in federal, City of Ottawa deal, and I was very excited to hear this would be coming. I do wish the city could build it the way we wanted to while making the roadways narrower and therefore safer, but that can’t happen after Ontario Bill 60’s changes to the Highway Traffic Act.

Winter Path Maintenance

Share which paths you’d like to see maintained in the winter.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but winter is coming, in anywhere from 6-16 weeks. I hope you’ll join me in thinking ahead to the coming arrival of snow.

Every fall for the last several years, I have reached out to our city councillor sharing my thoughts on the state of our winter maintained path network, including some routes I think should be added. I’ve seen far too many paths in the area go unmaintained or have a sign like this at the start ‘No sidewalk plows beyond this point’:

If you want to see your local paths in our community added to the winter maintenance network, I’d love to hear about it if you send an email to [email protected] (feel free to CC [email protected]).

Read the Article

Check out the Map

I’m Writing A Book! Check out New Suburbs (newburbs.com)

Follow the journey at TheNewOrleans.ca.

Volunteer Opportunities

We have a ton of ongoing opportunities to get involved, please have a look at the full list (linked). Please reach out to [email protected] if you’re interested.

• Volunteering to organize Upcoming Events
  • Community Yoga (Monthly September to May)
  • Community Municipal Debate for Ward 2 (Sept – Oct)
  • Hallowe’en Costumed Bike Parade (October 31)
  • Christmas Lights Block Party (December)
  • Weekend School Gym Drop-ins (Fall-Winter-Spring)
• Volunteer Coordinator
  • Send regular updates to volunteer group about new and upcoming opportunities
  • Help event planners find volunteers
  • Help recruit new community volunteers
• Events Coordinator
  • Keep track of upcoming events with leads
  • Make sure events have a poster, date/time, RSVPs, booking, etc.
• A/V Expert/Coordinator
  • Someone that can help out with in-person events that need video or sound to help set things up
  • Can give advice for possible purchases in this area
• Local Experts/Coordinators
  • We’d love to hear from you if you are interested in representing your specific area’s interests within the community association. Our boundaries include Convent Glen North and South, as well as Orleans Wood and everything north of St Joseph and west of Place d’Orléans, and we hear from some parts of the community much more than others.
• School Parent Council Liaisons
  • If you’re affiliated with a parent council, in the community we’d love to be in touch to coordinate events where appropriate.
• Graphic Designer
  • If you have a strong eye for design or visuals, we’d love your help putting together graphics for community promotion or advertising community events.
  • We have been using Canva for design, so experience with that program would certainly be helpful.
  • Tasks we’d be looking for help with include the following:
    • Help us to create posters, flyers, and other materials for events
    • Support graphic design needs like logos or other graphics.

Submit Your Photos Today

The Photo and Video Archive is our attempt at a community-owned, locally-sourced repository of high-quality visuals. By building this crowdsourced repository, we are creating a shared resource that belongs to the neighbourhood.

We are looking for “stock-style” photos and/or video that captures the everyday reality of our corner of Orléans. This includes the beauty of our ravines and river paths, but also the mundane—the intersections we cross, the homes we live in, and the ways we move through the community. You could look to capture something you really love or something you seek to improve. This media allows us to make our perspective visible to the rest of the city.

Contribute Knowledge to your Community

Our new forum is designed to let community residents break out of the algorithmic traps of social media and contribute to a shared knowledge base that reflects community needs and sentiment.

Built using Discourse community software, the CGOW Forum is an online public square for a variety of topics important to our neighbourhoods, and you can even navigate and read the forum without an account.

At the end of 2024, we explicitly set out to start growing our community association membership and newsletter subscription base. We now have almost 300 members and our newsletter reaches nearly 650 people each month.

We’re hoping to get your help to register your friends and neighbours in the community by running a membership drive, featuring ✨prizes✨ for residents who encourage the most new signups (provided those people are residents living inside our Geographical Boundaries).

If you aren’t already a CA member, join today! You can still participate if you’re a brand new member.

Orléans Community Network

The Orléans Community Network is a way for different organizations and community groups to keep in touch, share information, events, and best practices, and unite in advocacy on relevant issues. It’s also a great way for residents to find and get in touch with community groups that are active in Orléans.

To have your organization included in the network, reach out to [email protected] with the name of the organization, its website, and a main contact email address.

CGOW Community Network

The Convent Glen Orléans Wood (CGOW) Community Network is a dedicated way for volunteer groups, schools, and local organizations right here in Convent Glen and Orléans Wood to communicate and collaborate. Powered by your Convent Glen Orléans Wood Community Association, our mission is to foster a more connected, informed, and collaborative neighbourhood. We believe that by making it easier for us all to communicate and work together, we can strengthen the tight-knit bonds that make our community a truly special place to live.

To have your organization included in the network, send an email to [email protected] and let us know the organization’s name, website, and a central contact email address.

CA Board of Directors Meeting – September 14 – 7:30 PM

Every month, the Board of Directors of the Community Association holds a meeting to discuss ongoing community association matters. If you’d like to bring up something the board should discuss, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also see minutes from previous board meetings here, to see what we’ve been chatting about: Board Meeting Minutes.