Posted by: Sue Neill, Vice President, OSCA Board of Directors

The Old Ottawa South Community Association is your community association and it’s a great place to volunteer!

OSCA’s home base is the Old Firehall on Sunnyside.  This is where programs, meetings and activities take place but the spirit of OSCA can also be found on the streets of Old Ottawa South, in the green spaces, in the Bank Street gardens tended by the Green Dreamers, in the businesses on Bank Street, along the canal and the Rideau River and of course, in Windsor Park.

But our community needs to be tended to, and this is where OSCA comes in.  Pushing back on planning and zoning initiatives, ensuring traffic calming measures are in place, providing programming suitable for seniors, creating fun opportunities for children and youth and much more – that’s where the OSCA Board and Committees come in.

Here are a few facts about the OSCA Board and Committees:

  • The formal objective of OSCA is to promote the quality of life in the community of Old Ottawa South so that it is a pleasant, fulfilling and meaningful place to live.

  • The Board consists of 18 Directors. In principle, each Director is elected for a three year term. 

  • In the event of vacancies arising between AGMs, Board members are empowered by the By-laws to appoint new Board Members to fill vacant positions.  These appointments are then ratified at the next AGM.

  • Candidates for the Board must be members of OSCA. Adult residents of Old Ottawa South are eligible to become members and membership is free.

  • All Committee Chairs are members of the Board.  Committees include: Communications, Environment and Climate Action, Finance, Governance, Grants, Human Resources, Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility, Nominations and Elections, Operations, Planning and Zoning, Senior Watch (SWOOS) and Traffic and Safety.  In addition, there is an active Working Group focused on renewing OSCA’s website and we are creating a new working group focusing on raising funds for the field house at Windsor Park . 

  • Anyone wishing to volunteer will be welcomed. In 2023, OSCA has a particular need for people who have experience in finance and fund-raising.  We are looking for a Treasurer and a Chair and members of the Windsor Park Fund Raising Working Group.

  • Board meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month at the Old Firehall and usually last about two hours.  Committee meetings are held in agreement with Committee members. During the pandemic, Board and Committee meetings were held via Zoom but as of the March 2023 Board meeting, the Board is back meeting in-person. 

  • Board and Committee members are expected to actively contribute!  Discussions at meetings are lively and respectful, and always undertaken with the objective of making OSCA and Old Ottawa South even better!

If you would like to volunteer and stand for a position on the Board or a Committee, or find out more about OSCA, the Board and its Committees, please contact nominations@oldottawasouth.ca by May 31st, 2023. There’s a place for everyone at OSCA!