Survey: The More Ottawa Residents Know About the Lansdowne 2.0 Proposal, the Less They Like it

31 October 2025—In a press conference this morning, Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard and Nik Nanos, Chief Data Scientist, Nanos Research, released brand-new research conducted by Nanos Research that gauged the opinions of Ottawa residents on Lansdowne 2.0. Overwhelmingly, the research indicates that the more Ottawa residents learn about the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal, the less they support it.  

When presented with an overview of the proposed changes to Lansdowne, most Ottawa residents oppose or somewhat oppose the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal. When informed of specific items of the development plan—including the smaller north side stands and arena, and the loss of public space—as well as the estimated cost, support for the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal dropped from 64% to 31%. Opposition increased from 28% to 60%. 

Asked about the future of Lansdowne, 71% of Ottawa residents prefer maintaining the existing buildings, while only 18% prefer replacing the buildings. 

Mr. Nanos states, “results of this survey of Ottawa residents reveal that support for the Lansdowne 2.0 project significantly decreases once respondents are presented with the details of the project. Residents are especially sensitive to the loss of green space, the debt that the City will take on and the loss of seats in the hockey arena. Ottawa residents also lack confidence that the project will stay on budget or on time.” 

Councillor Menard was not surprised by the results, stating, “these results make clear what we’ve known for some time: Ottawa residents do not want to see the city spend $483 million on Lansdowne 2.0 replacing buildings that could be maintained for decades to come at a fraction of the price. Ottawa residents do not want to see the city take on more than $300 million in debt. Residents have other priorities, including an urgent housing crisis and a massive gap in transit funding; Lansdowne 2.0 does not adequately respond to either of these concerns.” 

Residents are most concerned with the loss of greenspace and the accumulation of city debt, as well as the reduction of seating in the event centre arena, which will no longer be able to hold the size of crowds the Ottawa Charge has drawn for the last two years. 

Residents are also pessimistic about the budget and timeline of Lansdowne 2.0. Of those surveyed, 74% believe it will be over budget (15% believe it will be on budget and 2% below budget), and 72% believe it will be completed behind schedule (15% believe it will be on schedule and 4% ahead of schedule). Residents are over four times more likely to believe the Lansdowne 2.0 project will be over budget or behind schedule than to think it will be on budget or on schedule. 

The survey was conducted between September 15 and October 1, 2025, with a population and final sample size of 764 Ottawa residents. 

The full report can be found at www.betterlansdowne.ca or click here to download it [PDF].  

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