Rideau Canoe Club benefits from facility improvements

The City of Ottawa held an official ceremony today to celebrate renovations to the Rideau Canoe Club. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (FedDev Ontario); Yasir Naqvi, Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre; His Worship Larry O’Brien, Mayor of the City of Ottawa; Maria McRae, Chair of the Transportation Committee and Councillor for River Ward; and Hector Carranco, Commodore of the Rideau Canoe Club, are pleased to see the completion of this important community infrastructure project. The rebuilt Rideau Canoe Club can now accommodate more programming for educational and day camp operations, training for athletes from beginners to Olympians and it will be fully accessible to visitors and athletes with disabilities. The new facility will host athletes from around the world to train at the Rideau Canoe Club which was recently designated as a National Training Centre by Canoe-Kayak Canada. The governments of Canada, Ontario and Ottawa have each contributed up to $594,000 to the project. Additional funding was raised by the Rideau Canoe Club for a total project cost of over $2.3 million. “These renovations enable Ottawa residents to enjoy an accessible, modern and energy efficient space, and allow the Club to participate in Canoe Kayak Canada's Paddle All Program for people with disabilities," said Minister Goodyear. “Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our government is investing in recreation facilities to create jobs and improve the quality of life in communities across Ontario.” “The project we are celebrating today supports our government’s Open Ontario plan to stimulate the economy and create new opportunities for jobs and growth,” said Naqvi. “Here in Ottawa, Open Ontario also represents the amazing goals we can accomplish when we work together. Thanks to the dedication of countless volunteers, and the investment of our government, we have built a new facility that will nurture generations of athletes and play a vital role in the health and success of our community.” “This project could not have been completed without the hard work of Councillor Maria McRae, and cooperation between all three levels of government and our partners," said Mayor Larry O'Brien. "In fact, the federal government's Infrastructure Stimulus Fund has allowed municipalities across the country to make much-needed community improvements like this one." “At the Rideau Canoe Club we have been dreaming of this moment for years,” said Commodore Carranco. “It is thanks to our partners’ generous contributions and to the Rideau Club members’ tremendous efforts that we are finally celebrating this great moment in the history of the Club.” This project is one of more than 760 across the province that is moving forward thanks to a joint federal-provincial investment of more than $380 million under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) Program in Ontario and the Ontario Recreation Program (Ontario REC). The governments of Canada and Ontario teamed up to support Ontario's communities and create jobs by improving recreational infrastructure, as these types of projects also encourage higher levels of participation in physical activity and community building. For more information on this initiative, please visit www.rinc-on.ca.

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