The Facilities’ Grounds team maintains the large University of Ottawa campus year round, keeping it pleasant and safe for its community. Maintenance operations include: landscaping and groundskeeping, rigorous control of tree health, snow removal and repair of roads, sidewalks and other traffic areas. We handle waste management and outdoor recycling, as well as installation and maintenance of site furniture (benches, tables, ashtrays, bike racks, etc.).

Senior Manager - Architectural Trades and Disasters Restoration: Suzanne Vincent

Facilities’ Transportation team specializes in moving all manner of equipment across uOttawa, serving the main campus, 200 Lees, and Roger Guindon. We’re responsible for transporting event gear (including setup), office furniture and appliances, lab and research equipment, and even laboratory samples. Our team also manages the Furniture Reuse Program and can assist with the removal, recycling, or installation of furniture.

The Furniture Reuse Program (FRP) provides the University of Ottawa community with access to used furniture for free by reusing and recycling furniture on campus. We believe that it is essential to redistribute furniture that is no longer used by uOttawa faculties and services to anyone on campus who needs it. We also donate older furniture to the community in order to eliminate landfill and recycling costs.

Most program donations can be described as either office furniture (chairs, desks, tables, or filing cabinets) or lab furniture (lab tables, shelves, or chairs).

Procedure for donating furniture

• If you, as a campus community member, no longer need a piece of furniture or equipment, make a furniture removal request (Facilities Call Centre email or 613-562-5800 ext. 2222) or via the Project Manager if the furniture is being removed as part of a construction/renovation project
• We visually assess the furniture to make sure that it meets the program’s size and safety standards. If the furniture is suitable, it is tagged for storage in our warehouse at 1000 Belfast. If unsuitable, it is tagged for recycling.
• Once it arrives at the warehouse, the furniture is sorted and stored. Broken or unwanted items are disassembled and their components are recycled.

*Important: We are not responsible for the condition of furniture once it has been sent to 1000 Belfast. The FRP is not a storage service: there is no guarantee that you can recover furniture once it has been brought to the warehouse.

Procedure for obtaining furniture?

• When uOttawa community members are in need of furniture items, they can make a 2222 request to schedule a visit to the warehouse. 

*Important: We are not responsible for items that you have selected but that eventually go missing.

What we do with the rest

Items that are not selected after a certain time period are offered to external community members, including employees, uOttawa groups, students and Ottawa-based charities and schools, or are broken down into components and recycled.

If you have any suggestions or questions about the program, please contact 2222 for more details.

Snow removal on University campuses is a substantial operation due to the size of the area and the population density. It includes clearing of roads, parking lots, sidewalks, terraces, doorways, stairwells, access ramps for the mobility impaired, fire hydrants and more. Our goal is to offer a cleared campus as of 7 a.m. However, since weather conditions are out of our control and unpredictable, we sometimes have to settle for secure but not perfect conditions until precipitation ends. To keep to our standards, snow removal in different locations is performed by category priority. See snow removal priority categories. (PDF, 64 KB)

Procedures in the event of precipitation

Streets and parking lots

Due to the campus population density, using heavy machinery for snow removal during the day would be a safety hazard. We have the bare minimum of equipment needed to clear entrances, parking lots and loading docks. Streets are plowed by trucks as efficiently as possible, piling the snow in designated areas. A loader is also on site if needed. This operation is undertaken jointly with the sidewalks crews, to limit snow banks to a minimum. These vehicles are on campus as long as the precipitation lasts. Complete snow clearing occurs at night.

During the first night of precipitation, snow is piled in designated areas. The following night, the crew brings the snow to our Power Plant melter. This operation may take up to three nights.

When temperatures are at -10°C or below, snow does not compress under tires and becomes slippery. Normally, we don't have to apply abrasives in these conditions.

When the temperature is between 0°C and -10°C, snow has a higher water content and compresses into ice under tires and pedestrians' feet and we must continually apply abrasives to minimize ice formation.

Sidewalks and buildings

Two crews are deployed on the main campus to shovel all Category 1 locations. Compact tractors and plow trucks take care of sidewalks, walkways, terraces and public areas, such as the Campus Transitway Station. Workers are usually on location as of 4 a.m. A third crew takes on the evening shift between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. to service the residences and buildings with classrooms.

Typically, when precipitation ends early enough, all Category 1 locations should be clear of snow by the end of the first day of the snow removal. Should precipitations continue, workers return to clear the same locations, until precipitations stops. Category 2 and 3 locations are then cleared, which may take up to 48 hours until completion.

To report any problem related to a public area of the University, contact the Call Centre at 613-562-5800 ext. 2222.

If stairs, sidewalks or access ramps seem dangerous, do not use them. Call ext. 2222 (leave a message of there's no answer) or Protection Services at ext. 5499 (24 hour service).