Ottawa police seek new training facility as Algonquin College lease ends

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS)will be losing access to itstraining facility at Algonquin College in 2026 andis looking for a new place to train recruits.

In an interview with CBC News, OPSDeputy Chief Steve Bellsaid police started discussions at the beginning of the year to renew itsexisting lease with the collegefor another five-year term.

At that point, Bell said the college served police with a notice of termination that would have OPS vacate its professionaldevelopment centrelocated in an Algonquin college building in 2026.

The facility, which OPS has been using for 23 years,includes classrooms, office space, a firing range, asimulations lab, and a defensive tactics studio.

Bell said it was"asurprise"to hear the college wanted to terminate the lease.

"We've been there a long time, that isthe main area where we doall of our training in, so it's a very big focal point for the Ottawa Police Service.We heavily rely on that area," he said.

The college told police it needed the extra space,Bell said.

Bruce Hickey, communications manager with Algonquin College, saidthe school hadno comment on the issue.

The move to end OPS's lease on the facility comes as the college is finalizing its 10-year master campus development plan, which is lookingatcurrent buildings and spaces to see if they meet the growth needs of the college.

That plan will be presented to the college'sboard of governors for approval in February 2025.

Matthew Cox, president of the Ottawa Police Association, said new OPS recruits initially attend the facility at Algonquin College prior to attending the Ontario Police College inAylmer, Ont.

Search for new facility

While OPS looks for a new training space, Bell saidpolice arenegotiating with Algonquin College in the hopeof retaining access to the firing range in the facility for an additional five years.

He added other ranges can be found in and around the city, butnonecould handle OPS's high demand.

The possibility of needing to build a new firing range came up WednesdaywhenOPStabled its2025 draftbudget.

"We always identify risks to the budget, things that may happen that we can't quantify or don't know that are going to occur, and one of those risks is that we will need to invest capital money into building a temporary solution for a firing range," Bell said.

"Weknow that that would come in 2025 and would be quite costly for the taxpayers."

Another possibility is to use the new police headquarters being built in Barrhaven as a potential training space. Construction onthe $115-million building, dubbed the South Facility, began in 2023and is expected tobe completed in 2026.

Bell said the site includes seven acres of undeveloped landbut added it's too early to make a decision on building a new training facility there.

Bell said officers use the centre ona yearly basisto qualify in use-of-force training in order to maintain their status as a police officer.

Special constables with Carleton University and OC Transpo also use the Algonquin Collegefacility foruse-of-force training.

Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, a spokesperson with OC Transpo, said in an emailthat the 2026 closure of the centre will haveno effect on OC Transpo'straining program as it is growing its in-house certification initiatives.

Coxsaid in the long run, he sees the need for OPS to have it's own training space, independent of Algonquin College.

"We've probably outgrown that space," he said.