LRFP III reflects how Ottawa is not alone in facing constrained funding circumstances or growing pressure to maintain funding for existing programs and services. Changing demographics and a growing population create pressures on the City to provide new programs and services with no readily available source of funding. In short, Canadian municipalities face many challenges as they try to become financially sustainable.

Various issues or themes identified in LRFP III need to be addressed before the City of Ottawa can become financially sustainable. The challenge of preserving Ottawa's existing quality of life requires elected officials to work with residents to find the right balance between maintaining existing services and infrastructure for our growing city, providing services mandated by the Province, and enhancing services to meet emerging community needs, all with the limited number of existing funding tools available to Ontario municipalities.

This section presents a summary of the issues and proposes strategies for Council's consideration as we aim to make the City financially sustainable over the long-term.

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