The City of Ottawa’s emergency manager apologized Monday after an unannounced late-night fireworks show rocked parts of the city last week.
Federal and municipal agencies say they are now trying to sort out who allowed the blasts to take place during a quiet period mandated by a city bylaw.
The surprise pyrotechnic display took place after 11 p.m. on July 9 as music fans were starting to file out of the popular Bluesfest concert festival site just west of downtown.
At least two city councillors have demanded answers after they received dozens of complaints from residents who said they felt unsafe or whose pets were in a frenzy.
“I was fast asleep and woke up in a panic,” Coun. Ariel Troster wrote on social media. “On a weeknight, so late, with no notice (is) unacceptable.”
The fireworks were the ones that were supposed to be set off on Canada Day but were cancelled after severe storms and flash floods shut down the annual national birthday celebrations in the capital.
“It’s very clear to me that it had impacts on the community and for that I’m extremely sorry,” Ryan Perrault, head of the city’s emergency and protective services department, said at a Monday news conference.
“We were reviewing and assessing that situation with public safety in mind,” he said, adding officials had a “difficult decision” to make.
Perrault said he is still trying to determine which individual decided to set the fireworks off so late. The federal Heritage Department said it chose to proceed with the launch after receiving input from the police forces for Ottawa and Gatineau, the local fire department and municipal officials.
“As the fireworks were already primed, disarming them would have posed a significant safety risk to the fireworks crew,” wrote Heritage Department spokeswoman Caroline Czajkowski.
“Fireworks displays are planned with the safety of the public and the fireworks staff as the top priority.”
Czajkowski said the department arranged with the Ottawa Bluesfest festival to use the fireworks at the end of their opening night.
“The decision not to advertise the fireworks display was made in consultation with security and event partners … following careful consideration of public safety implications, and to ensure that crowds did not exceed the safe capacity of LeBreton Flats Park and the surrounding area,” she wrote.
The department would not provide the cost of the original fireworks display or the cost of launching them last week.
Volunteers at Ottawa Bluesfest, which is taking place at LeBreton Flats Park, were as shocked as members of the crowd when the sky suddenly lit up with colourful explosions after the show. The festival closes nightly at 11 p.m. and the fireworks started as many attendees were leaving the grounds.
The government did take steps to ensure the safety of Ottawa’s air space during the sudden fireworks show.
Nav Canada, which operates the country’s civil air navigation system, published a notice to aircraft and drone operators three days ahead of the fireworks, known as a NOTAM.
“At Transport Canada’s request, we published a NOTAM on July 6, three days before the event,” wrote Nav Canada spokesman Gabriel Bourget.
“NOTAMs are aviation notices intended for pilots and aircraft operators. Public notification of fireworks displays is the responsibility of event organizers and local authorities.”
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was not told in advance about the launch.
“In fairness to the people who made the decision, I think they were trying to make the best of a bad outcome on Canada Day, where the fireworks were not able to be deployed,” he said.
“I understand why people were surprised and upset, and perhaps it was too late in the day. I didn’t know about it until afterwards, and I haven’t been focused on it. I’ve been preoccupied with the flooding situation.”
Sutcliffe said nearly 6,000 Ottawa homes were flooded on Canada Day when more than 118 mm of rain fell in the afternoon and early evening. Cleanup and repair efforts are ongoing.
Coun. Jeff Leiper said the fireworks took place “over a very compressed time frame and so were very intense,” particularly as people were coping with the impact of flooding and extreme heat.
Michelle Groulx, a candidate in October’s Ottawa municipal election, said neighbours thought the sound was thunder and feared another flash flood.
“This was a horrible decision that rocked our entire neighbourhood (and the core) without warning,” she wrote.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2026.
— With files from Catherine Morrison
By Dylan Robertson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
