00:00:00 Alicia Primiani

Welcome back to The City that Fun Forgot: Ottawa’s Nightlife Dilemma. I’m your host, Alicia Primiani, and on today’s episode, Sip, Skip and Stay In, we’re diving into the reality of going out in a city that’s often been accused of being, well, a little too quiet.

00:00:25 Alicia Primiani

Ottawa has long struggled with its nightlife reputation. Rising drink prices, safety concerns, and unreliable public transit have made going out more of a strategic mission than a carefree night of fun. So, what does this look like for young people who want to party? Is it as dull as some claim, or is there an underground culture that makes the most of what the city has to offer?

00:00:45 Alicia Primiani

In this episode, we will explore the consumer perspective by hearing from two students who navigate Ottawa’s nightlife in different ways.

00:00:54 Alicia Primiani

First, there’s the cost factor. Drink prices have surged over the years and cover charges at clubs can be steep.

00:01:00 Alicia Primiani

According to a study by SHIFTER, the average cocktail in Ottawa costs around $12.00, which many skip altogether so they can drink at home before going out. This is commonly referred to as pre-gaming, a practice by students that has become an economic necessity.

00:01:14 Alicia Primiani

It may seem like a good thing that young people are making going out work for them and doing whatever they need to do to cut costs, but there are also risks involved. A study from the Journal of Behavioral Medicine found that people who pre-game are over 4 times more likely to drink up to 5 times the recommended safe limit in a single night. They’re also more than twice as likely to get into a confrontation while out.

00:01:34 Alicia Primiani

So, the high cost of drinks isn’t just a financial barrier, it’s a safety issue too.

00:01:38 Alicia Primiani

More on safety is the environmental risks. Reports from the Ottawa Police show a rise in nightlife related incidents in Rideau Vanier, the heart of the city’s bar and club scene. In 2022, the total number of reported cases in the ward reached 6976 cases. Because of this, many students may feel unsafe, which can affect their nightlife experience.

00:01:58 Alicia Primiani

Young women in particular, have raised concerns about harassment and the lack of security in certain areas. A study by the University of Ottawa found that women are much more likely than men to change their routines, avoid certain places, or even steer clear of specific people as a way to stay safe.

00:02:14 Alicia Primiani

Even if you manage to get around all these roadblocks, there is always the issue of getting home. Ottawa’s transit system has a reputation for being “reliably unreliable.” Often, taking public transit is too time consuming, especially late at night when service is slower. This leaves many to rely on expensive Uber rides to get back safely. In Ubers 2024 Canada Nightlife Index report, Ottawa ranked 4th in the country for nightlife demand, but many attribute this to the lack of late-night transit options.

00:02:48 Alicia Primiani

With all that in mind, let’s hear from someone who has a unique experience with nightlife. Our first guest, Ethan Buckarev. Ethan is a student at Carleton University and is in his second year of engineering. He’s the events organizer for a local frat, as well as a bartender at Back to Brooklyn and Berlin. Ethan is very immersed in the social scene and has seen nightlife from both sides, from behind the bar and as a partygoer.

00:03:11 Alicia Primiani

How much do you think a typical person or student would spend on a night out and do you think there’s any way that people could save money?

00:03:18 Ethan Buckarev

Typically, you can expect to spend between, I’d say, 60 to 150 bucks on a night out in Ottawa, which sounds like a lot like that’s a lot of money. Like I was. I went out with my friends on Wednesday and I spent 380 bucks. Right. Like it gets, it’s very easy to sort of light money on fire.

00:03:34 Alicia Primiani

Wow.

00:03:40 Ethan Buckarev

I’d say if you really were looking to reduce your cost and still have an enjoyable experience, the best thing you can do is like have a connection with somebody who’s already inside of nhightlife.

00:03:51 Alicia Primiani

Do you think pre-gaming is also really popular for people to try and save money?

00:03:55 Ethan Buckarev

100%  Absolutely. I think it’s. I did it when I was in first year when I was, you know, the broke university student like I didn’t. We’d go to the bars and maybe spend $10 to $15, you know, and just heavily reduce the cost of going out by, you know, like pre gaming with the boys.

00:04:15 Alicia Primiani

When you personally go out, do you live close to Byward or would you take public transit or an Uber when you’re going out?

00:04:22 Ethan Buckarev

Coming from campus was difficult, especially taking public transit. Because the Ottawa transit system is very, very underdeveloped when it comes to running shuttles at night. I’m from Toronto, from a big city. I’m used to the TTC coming every 3 minutes, you know, and I thought that was slow, so it’s especially difficult when it comes after hours after dark. I think it’s it’s very difficult to use public transit and it becomes very like a huge cost of my going out goes towards the trip home or even the trip there.

00:04:57 Alicia Primiani

Yeah, other than transit, I know safety can be a really big issue for a lot of students. How safe do you think Ottawa’s nightlife scene is? And do you think venues are doing enough to keep people safe?

00:05:08 Ethan Buckarev

I would say that there definitely is safety concern when it comes to going out and going out downtown and going out partying. I could tell you a story actually, when I was still 18 in first year and I would, there’s the bar in Gatineau, we’d go to Grenouille and we would. I went there with my roommates once when I was still in Res and the guy I shared to washroom with, my campmate. He got he got like heavily drugged like he got really like they really messed him up. Yeah, we had to. Well, the bouncers actually, they threw him out of the bar.

00:05:43 Ethan Buckarev

By his by his ankles and his arms. Right. And then he got arrested by the Gatineau police and spent the night in jail for public intoxication. So yes. And he’s he got fined and was spent a night in prison because of what happened. And I’d say that it really depends on where you go.

00:05:51 Alicia Primiani

Even though he was drugged.

00:05:55 Alicia Primiani

Wow.

00:06:04 Ethan Buckarev

From my experience with security there’s a big security company, it’s called Archer Security, and they do most of the they they provide most of the bars with security for, you know, whatever it might be. Your bouncers inside your floaters upstairs, Archer is the company that provides the manpower to do that. They do a good job. They do do their due diligence.

00:06:23 Ethan Buckarev

But there have been instances where I’ve seen. Like I’ve seen people almost die in the bar, so I find that when issues do arise, it’s very easy to phase out the security that’s working those events.

00:06:38 Alicia Primiani

It’s definitely important to be careful when you go out. Other than that, is there anything you’d like to see changed about Ottawa’s nightlife?

00:06:45 Ethan Buckarev

I would say that, what I would like to see changed is less of a monopoly when it comes to nightlife. Dreammind, the parent company of Show, Berlin, they operate and they own I’d say 90% of the bars that you would that you would ever go to. And the problem with this is that it’s hard to find something new, and I say this is where Toronto really sort of this with like the Toronto nightlife, kind of excels in. They have a lot of variety, whereas in Ottawa it’s very easy to find where to be.

00:07:34 Ethan Buckarev

But after that I find I in my experience I find that it’s very, very difficult to find something else that is unique, something that’s sort of competitive and trying to perform better than your Dreammind venue, which is what owns nightlife right now. If Dreammind wasn’t here, there would be no nightlife in Ottawa. There would be no clubs, no bars, no. The student experience would be abysmal.

00:07:59 Alicia Primiani

Ethan’s experience highlights the struggle young people have with participating in Ottawa’s nightlife. But are perspectives different between male and female students? To get more insight, I spoke with Julia Rhimes, a third-year student at Carleton University studying Media Production and Design. Originally from Montreal, Julia has her own take on Ottawa’s nightlife, or lack thereof.

00:08:20 Alicia Primiani

How much would you say you typically spend on a night out?

00:08:23 Julia Rhymes

Honestly, I try to spend as little as possible, so including Ubers, drinks, entrance fees and all that kind of jazz, I feel like could add up too easily $75. But I do try to spend less and I could aim for 50 on a goo night.

00:08:45 Alicia Primiani

Speaking of cost, transit can sometimes be a really big factor. Do you typically take public transit or Uber on a night out?

00:08:52 Julia Rhymes

This is a tricky question because I am a public transit advocate, and I will always try to at least say let’s take the bus there and we can Uber back. That way we save on at least one trip. I’m also from Montreal, which is a city, so I’m totally comfortable taking the bus, whereas some of my friends are not as comfortable

00:09:12 Alicia Primiani

So you said you’re from Montreal? Yes, obviously the party scene I’m sure is different there. Like the public transit is a lot different. The social scene is different. Yeah. How would you compare the Montreal nightlife scene to Ottawa’s?

00:09:18 Julia Rhymes

Mm-hmm.

00:09:24 Julia Rhymes

What I have experienced is just that it tends to be busier. People are out much, much later.

00:09:30 Alicia Primiani

Hmm.

00:09:32 Julia Rhymes

As you mentioned, yeah, the transit runs a bit later into the night. The Metro is pretty reliable. I wish I knew more. I wish I had more experiences, but even just by word of mouth, I know that the Montreal nightlife is a little bit better than Ottawa’s.

00:09:48 Alicia Primiani

Montreal is definitely more well known for their party scene. In terms of Ottawa, do you think it’s a matter of knowing where to go or do you think it’s just lacking in general?

00:09:58 Julia Rhymes

See, that’s tricky because the three years that I’ve lived there, I keep thinking that I keep thinking, oh, you just have to know the good spots.

00:10:06 Julia Rhymes

And it doesn’t seem that I have been able to find the good spots, which is starting to make me think that maybe it’s just not that good in general. And again, when we go back to think about Montreal, I feel like there are just generally places that are open. There’s people around and we’ve mentioned this before, not even places where there’s alcohol and drinking and dancing, super loud music. Just third spaces where people can be out until a later hour.

00:10:33 Alicia Primiani

100%.

00:10:35 Julia Rhymes

Which is not something that I have found in Ottawa as of yet.

00:10:39 Alicia Primiani

That is true, but it seems like you try and work your way around it. When you go out, is  safety ever a big concern for you, and do you or your friends have to take any precautionary measures?

00:10:50 Julia Rhymes

We’re definitely mindful and aware, at least by now, we’re very aware of, like how to act and who to avoid, whatever it might be. There have been some instances where, you know, there’s been comments made by men and women, people our age, people older, not even necessarily a certain demographic of people, but just comments in general on the street that make you feel uncomfortable.

00:11:12 Julia Rhymes

People’s behaviors in the bars and the clubs sometimes make you a bit weary and you do have to be more aware of that and on alert just in the event that something does escalate. Staying in a group definitely helps and communicating that with your friends, being aware of what’s going on, hyper aware even, especially as a woman.

00:11:32 Julia Rhymes

I have found there’s a very big difference in how I feel safety wise when I’m out with guys in our friend group versus girls, a mix. I tend to feel much more comfortable when there are men around, which is so unfortunate to say in this day and age, but unfortunately that’s the way it is. But again, just being so aware of your surroundings and proactive about what you would do in that situation.

00:12:03 Alicia Primiani

So, what does Ottawa’s nightlife say about the city itself? If you ask Ethan and Julia the party scene is there, and it has potential, but it’s not the most accessible as of right now. Between financial constraints, safety concerns, and unreliable transportation, it’s clear that students are being pushed to rethink what a night out looks like. The future of Ottawa’s nightlife may be in the hands of those who are still showing up, or maybe it’s in the hands of those demanding a change.

00:12:27 Alicia Primiani

Next time on The City that Fun Forgot: Ottawa’s Nightlife Dilemma, Mackenzie will be covering Last Call: Entertainers in Ottawa and will explore the struggles of artists, comedians and performers trying to make a living in this city. That’s a wrap. See you next time.