November 7, 2020 update:

As of 12:01 am on Saturday, November 7, 2020, Bayview Yards will open our facility to meetings and events on a modified basis, consistent with regulations provided by Ontario Public Health.  

The capacity limits for meeting spaces have been modified to ensure social distancing and health regulations. Hours of operation will be restricted in accordance with the guidelines provided by Ontario Public Health. 

We will continue to review every inquiry on an individual basis. As always, our priority is and will continue to be the health and safety of our staff, clients and attendees. If you are interested in booking space with us please complete our intake form and our Event Coordinator will contact you to confirm we can accommodate your group. 

July 9, 2020 update:

All non-essential staff, companies, and licensees should not be working at Bayview Yards, as per government regulations.

As we continue to closely monitor the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak across Canada and around the world, we are working closely and consistently with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) on the development of protocols and steps that help keep you, our employees, clients, tenants and all guests safe and healthy.  Given our extensive regional engagement and activity, we know it is imperative to get ahead of this evolving situation and help slow the spread of this virus.   

Working directly with the OPH team, and leveraging trusted COVID-19 resources from OPH, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the World Health Organization, we are committed to taking proactive, preventative and prudent measures that aim to mitigate risk within our facility and across our region. This includes steps to: 

• Keep You Safe at Our Innovation Hub 
• Create Safe, Online Delivery Methods for Programs, Services and Support 
• Help to Preserve the Health of Our Employees, Clients & Community

Please find below key elements of our corporate response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, developed with the full support of OPH. As valued members of our community, we wanted you to be fully apprised of the precautionary steps we are taking to help preserve your health and safety. 

Given the global and dynamic nature of COVID-19, we are monitoring this situation closely every day with OPH and other authorities. We will share new information, next steps or updates to these steps regularly. 

Consistent with many partners and organizations across Canada and around the world, and with your health and safety as our top priority, we are: 

• Deploying bilingual signage provided by OPH throughout the facility to encourage healthy practices such as elbow bumps and waves as opposed to handshakes, and proper handwashing techniques; 
• Posting signage at the entrance of Bayview Yards and reception encouraging any guest who is feeling unwell to return home, and seek medical support; 
• Installing more handwashing stations and sanitizer throughout Bayview Yards;  
• Adopting enhanced cleaning and sanitization procedures for all parts of our facility each day;  
• Adopting broad work-from-home approaches for our employees, and delivering our programs, services and support online to the greatest degree possible to help preserve the health of our team and the community we serve; and 
• Moving to kiosk-based reception and guest check-in and operating with a significantly reduced onsite team at our Invest Ottawa and Bayview Yards locations. This includes: 

• • Our headquarters at 7 Bayview Station Rd. 
  • The Ottawa L5 Private CAV Test Facility managed by Invest Ottawa at the Greenbelt
  • Temporarily closing our Kanata office at 555 Legget Dr., Kanata. 

To help slow the spread of this virus, and continue supporting the entrepreneurs, firms and community we serve, we are: 

• Suspending all ‘face-to-face’ peer groups, consultations and workshops hosted by Invest Ottawa and Bayview Yards, and implementing online delivery and telephone engagement wherever possible; 
• Suspending all events hosted directly by Invest Ottawa and Bayview Yards, as well as those hosted by external organizations that lease meeting and event space at our facility;
  • We are personally contacting all organizations that have booked a meeting or event at Bayview Yards. If you are scheduled to host a meeting or event at our facility and have not yet spoken with a member of our Events Team, please contact Richard Quigley, Vice President Infrastructure Services at [email protected];  

• Temporarily closing our onsite Education Centre at 7 Bayview Station Rd., enhancing our videoconference capabilities, and creating new online training and content delivery approaches that help to keep our community engaged, informed and connected in the days ahead;  
• Enabling onsite companies currently in our IO Accelerator at Bayview Yards to access their existing corporate space as they typically would; and 
• Temporarily halting all drop-in access for entrepreneurs and firms in our IO Accelerator, and new applications from companies for onsite space in our IO Accelerator, IO Global Runway and Bayview Yards more broadly. 

With an abundance of precaution, and a focus on the health of our people and the region we call home, we are: 

• Suspending all business travel, international meeting and conference participation; 
• Asking all employees who are currently (or will be) travelling personally to self-isolate for 14 days; 
• Postponing AccelerateOTT, our flagship entrepreneurship conference, originally scheduled for May  7 at Lansdowne Park;
• Collaborating with all licensees, tenants and partners at Bayview Yards to ensure everyone who shares space with us is fully apprised of the proactive steps and protocols we are implementing; 
• Working collaboratively with regional and national partners to share resources, approaches and practices that aim to support entrepreneurs and firms during this difficult period; 
  • This includes the following toolbox created by MaRS Discovery District: https://learn.marsdd.com/topic/covid-19-collection/ 

• Working directly with the founders, entrepreneurs and companies we serve in our region to provide additional support; and 
• Promoting trusted resources that aim to help our community during this challenging time. The following support is confidential and available 24/7 to you, your family and our community: 
  • Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region 
  • Crisis Line

Our Executive Leadership Team is meeting on a daily basis, given this rapidly evolving situation.  We will keep you apprised of updates and new steps developed in collaboration with OPH that aim to support our people and community further. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sonya Shorey, Vice President, Strategy, Marketing and Communications at [email protected].  

Many thanks for your cooperation as we take proactive and preventative steps that aim to keep you, our employees, clients, guests and community safe and healthy. 

Sincerely, 

Michael Tremblay 
President and CEO 
Invest Ottawa and Bayview Yards