Working Together to Stop Graffiti
The City of Ottawa and Ottawa Police Service are committed to dealing with graffiti vandalism and strive to provide a clean, vibrant, safe and welcoming community for all residents, businesses and visitors.
What is graffiti?
Graffiti is the etching, painting or placing of a mark on public or private property.
When any type of graffiti is placed on public or private property it is considered an act of vandalism and is against the law.
Types of graffiti
The most common type of graffiti in the Ottawa area is "tagging". It is the writing, painting or "bombing" of an identifiable symbolic character or "tag" that may or may not contain letters. Other types of graffiti are: personalized, political, offensive and hate-related.
Hate related graffiti is graffiti that is motivated, in whole or in part by, hate/bias or prejudice based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or any similar factor.
Gang related graffiti is rare in Ottawa.
Where is it?
Graffiti can be found almost everywhere - in the downtown core, suburban neighbourhoods and rural communities. It exists on many surfaces including bridges, buildings, walls, utility boxes, mailboxes, vehicles, and in parks.
Who is affected?
Graffiti is not a victimless crime. If graffiti is left to spread in our community it can:
- Leave the impression that no one cares and that no one is in control
- Lead to increased crime/vandalism
- Discourage business and shopping, and lead to lost business revenue
- Decrease aesthetic appeal
- Cost millions of dollars for removal
- Divert tax dollars from community programs and services
- Harm prosperity and reduce property values
- Affect the sense of safety and security for residents and visitors
Taking Action
The City of Ottawa recognizes that managing graffiti is most effective using a collaborative, multi-faceted approach. That’s why, in partnership with the Ottawa Police Service and community leaders; the City follows the 4E model of graffiti management:
- Education – Raising awareness in the community about the negative impact and costs associated with graffiti and about the importance of prevention and rapid removal.
- Empowerment - Maximizing available resources and relationships and encouraging property owners to take a key role in deterring graffiti.
- Eradication - Removing graffiti quickly and efficiently and encouraging timely reporting of graffiti.
- Enforcement - Applying municipal and other relevant laws when necessary, including the Graffiti Management By-law.
Goals of the Graffiti Management Strategy
The overall goal of the Graffiti Management Strategy is to have a clean, safe and graffiti-free city. We are working towards our goal with a commitment to...
- Removing graffiti as quickly as possible
- Increasing community capacity to manage graffiti
- Enhancing civic pride and prosperity for residents and businesses
- Encouraging the use of prevention techniques
- Providing easy and accessible reporting options
- Supporting residents and businesses with appropriate tools and resources
- Involving business, residents, youth, community organizations and graffiti writers as partners
- Adopting best practices and research based solutions to graffiti management
