Community Information for Panda

The annual Panda Football Game, a historic rivalry between the uOttawa and Carleton University, has been a tradition for the two universities and the largest university sporting event in Canada. The return of Carleton Ravens Football in 2013 brought the return of this annual tradition. The game has been sold out for the past seven years, with attendance at 24,000 (60% of those in attendance are students from the two universities). It is an important part of the student experience as it brings school spirit and pride like no other event on campus across Canada.

While the revenue to the Universities is small, the Panda Game generates a direct economic impact of $3 million according to the latest study conducted by T1 (Impact Assessment Report August 3, 2022).

As your neighbour, Carleton University takes pride in our connection to the community, and we are committed to keeping you informed on the steps we’re taking to ensure a safe and respectful Panda game. We invite you to read about some of the initiatives and partnerships we have engaged in to support our students and the wider community before, during and after the game.

Pre-Game Initiatives

Coordination

The City of Ottawa, Ottawa Police Services, Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) are working together to ensure safe and responsible Panda Game celebrations for all residents and participants.

Carleton is a key partner in planning and hosting a safe and respectful game. This includes participating in a risk management and planning process that has engaged the Police, City officials, university representatives and partners at OSEG.

Community Engagement

Direct engagement with Landlords and tenants in high-priority areas of concern in advance of game day to communicate expectations and potential consequences for disorderly behaviour.

Carleton University’s Community Door Knocking campaign, in partnership with Ottawa Police Services, reaches an average of over 3,000 homes in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South.

Student Communications

Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is involved in student-focused initiatives and messaging around responsibility and safety.

Continued communication to students throughout September on student behaviour, safer substance use and being good neighbours. The Panda Post newsletter is sent to all undergraduate students a few days before the game.

Party Safer Fair on campus to engage students in hands-on learning about safer substance use and their responsibility to be good neighbours in relation to game day activities.

Naloxone and overdose awareness training are made available to all members of the Carleton community in September. Ottawa Public Health will be on-site during the game to educate attendees on the use of Naloxone and will provide Naloxone kits.

Working with City of Ottawa service partners, including Ottawa Police, Ottawa By-law and Regulatory Services and Ottawa Public Health to deliver targeted communication and messaging to students around the following key themes:

• Student responsibility to demonstrate accountability and be good neighbours
• Safer substance use and harm reduction messaging
• Sexual Violence Awareness and training for event volunteers
• Public Order and Legal repercussions with regard to City of Ottawa by-laws, including excessive noise, littering, trespassing, etc.

Game-time Initiatives

Carleton has requested, and the partners organizing the event are providing, funding to maintain an appropriate presence of Ottawa Police and other relevant emergency services before, during and after the game through a partnership with OSEG, the City of Ottawa and uOttawa. We have been assured by our partners at the Ottawa Police that there will be zero tolerance for disruption to public order or illegal activity and they are confident in their plans to support the neighbours affected by the events on Game Day.

Zero Tolerance for intoxication or unruly behaviour at the game (no bags or re-entry privileges during the event).

There is reduced alcohol service during the game and alcohol sales will be stopped early if they approach an elevated threshold.

Carleton will have a team of professional staff from the Office of Student Affairs and other student-centered departments present to facilitate a quick response to any incidents that occur. They will be accompanied by volunteers from the Carleton community who will be there to support a full complement of TD Place security to ensure the safe and successful operation of the game.

Carleton’s Student Health and Wellness Services will be providing support to Panda Game participants by deploying a triage centre at TD Place to address medical concerns that arise during the game and divert cases from Emergency Services and area hospitals where possible.

This service includes a safe discharge plan and a secondary-care area on campus for students who require additional support.

Post-Game Initiatives

Carleton is part of a multi-disciplinary Operations and Communications team that will continue to monitor and support responses to incidents in the community after the game has concluded. This team includes the City of Ottawa Emergency Management, Ottawa Police, the University of Ottawa and other key stakeholders.

Carleton University is of the view that strict law enforcement is required throughout the weekend. Carleton has been assured that the City of Ottawa Emergency Management, Ottawa Police Service and Bylaw Services are committed to responding to concerns from the public after the game. Carleton has fully cooperated with requests from these units to facilitate their role and remains fully supportive of these units in maintaining safety and public order. The Panda game event fund has contributed over $150,000 to ensure a strong Ottawa Police and Bylaw Services presence throughout the weekend.

In an effort to provide alternative programming and reduce community impact, particularly in the Sandy Hill area, Carleton and uOttawa will continue the joint effort to host a Post-Panda event for all ages on the uOttawa campus from 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. Carleton is providing staff and volunteer support, along with sharing the cost of this event which will feature music and offer a supervised environment for students to celebrate the game without impacting the larger community.

The Carleton Student Experience Office has organized a Post-Panda Cleanup event in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South for the day after the game. This community-engaged learning opportunity connects Carleton students with local non-profit and community organizations to explore the social, environmental and economic challenges impacting the greater Ottawa community. In addition to the cleanup, student volunteers will participate in a discussion about the impact of large sporting events on small communities.

Carleton will continue to monitor and respond to questions received via the panda@carleton.ca inbox before, during and after the game to ensure the community is acknowledged and informed about our commitment to being a good neighbour.

Carleton has committed to conducting an internal post-event debrief to identify areas of improvement and enhance service delivery for future events. These findings will be shared as part of a larger post-game exercise conducted in collaboration with the City of Ottawa, OSEG, Ottawa Police and the University of Ottawa to ensure a holistic review of the event and its potential impact on the community.

We are very excited to celebrate this tradition and provide students with a chance to build a connection with the wider Ottawa community. For further questions, please reach out to panda@carleton.ca.