In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Leo Lavergne, General Director, Centre Pauline Charron The best thing about Vanier is that it is a welcoming neighbourhood. Vanier welcomes all people, whoever they are, and invites them to join the group. Even more important are all the organisations and associations in Vanier that support each other. That’s our character in this great City of Ottawa and what sets us apart from the rest; it’s our welcoming spirit and our attachment to our organisations. Centre Pauline Charron is one of the oldest organisations in Vanier, it dates back to 1963, so we’ve already been here 56 years. It has always been a place where retired or pre-retired people can feel at home, take part in all sorts of activities, discover new things, meet new people and even make new friends. It is indeed a meeting place, in the heart of our community.

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Murale par Mique Michelle et Kalkidan Assefa

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Laurier

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Grotte

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Granville & Ch Montréal

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Centre Wabano

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Cabane à sucre

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Cénotaphe

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Rema Saab and Leina Abou-Eid, Louis Restaurant & Pizzeria The best thing about Vanier is that it is a very close-knit community. Everybody is very generous, very kind and thank God our restaurant is in Vanier. We really love it here. My parents have owned the restaurant for 59 years. We bring Vanier very good food. We try and help out as much as we can to different organizations. One year we did the planting, we help them clean the city. Whenever they need help with anything, they are doing the SOS Vanier, we helped out with that too. We did a bowling night where we offered pizza for free and they sold it. So whichever way we can help the community, we like to do that.

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Patrick Morin, The Great Canadian Poutinerie I have been here my whole life. I like the multicultural aspect of Vanier, the mixture of poor and rich. I also like the fact that you walk around, you see all the shapes and sizes of houses. It’s not cookie cutter style. I find that a lot of people are really open in Vanier, you can kind of walk around and say hi to everyone and there’s no judging who you are, what you are doing. So, I think that’s really what brings us all together and what makes Vanier special. We’re a family business running strong for the past 14 years. We used to host all kinds of stuff in local parks, donate money to all kinds of fundraisers. Now we focus more on sports teams and helping the elderly find items they need. But I think it comes down to a friendly service, familiar faces, since we have all been born and raised in Vanier. So, we are kind of a staple in the community.

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Donna Chevrier, Owner of Ola Cocina Picture taken at the re-opening of her restaurant after break-in and vandalism. A GoFundMe Campaign raised twenty-two thousand dollars in 2 and a half days. Left to Right: Elizabeth Gray-Smith, Sally Douglas, Nathalie Carrier, Donna Chevrier & Jackie Morphy “Well, it’s funny because you were supposed to interview me a couple of days ago, but I missed you. But look what happened since. Vanier showed it’s true colours and its support behind a small tiny restaurant. And I am blessed to be able to still keep going with this business after 6 years. My family is from the area. You know, everyone says oh Vanier, Vanier. No, no. Vanier is where it’s about to be at. Really, truly. It’s got a lot of grit and I like it. I just want to thank everyone out there. It’s unbelievable.”

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Jennie Henderson, Vanier Little Free Library “I really like the sense of community in Vanier. There are people of many shapes, sizes and languages that live on my street and I believe we can all come together. We have community celebrations, block parties, that sort of thing. I like it because it feels like a true community. I started the Vanier Little Free Library after I moved here. There seemed to be a lot of people going back and forth so I wanted a way to share books. It is busy. I go through between 125 to 150 books in a month. That’s just me pulling from things that have been donated, or books that I pick up from yard sales or rummage sales and that sort of thing. Books for little children are the most popular, both English and French. It really shows me that the neighbourhood is quite diverse because we’ve got everything from classics and literature to beat poetry to current bestsellers. Everyone seems to be reading just a bit about everything. So it’s really interesting seeing what gets dropped off and what gets taken from the box.”

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Julia Dahdah, Executive Head Chef, Quelque Chose Pâtisserie “The people. They are very friendly. Every time I come to the store, they talk about anything, they have an open mind. Very, very friendly. We have made a lot of friends here in Vanier. I think the community deserves something better, especially in the streets. Right now, we have a lot of problems. Sometimes we see fights in front of the store and things that we are not supposed to see. We do not want our kids to see that kind of thing. Like drug dealers and things like that – we don’t want any of that here. We want more businesses, more places where people can sit down and have a coffee. We want people to think of Vanier as a place they can go and visit with their families. With the renovations of Montreal Road, I think that’s a good start and I’m sure it will go in the right direction. We are excited to be here and be a part of the change. When we started, we didn’t really know the community and now that we know it, we want to be part of this change and hopefully tell our kids about how it was in the past and how it will be in the future.”

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. The Rev. Aigah Attagutsiak of the Inuit Ministry at St Margaret’s Anglican Church. “I like it because it is convenient to most Inuit people here in Vanier, so for example drop-in, we used to have donation of clothes, for counselling and even for conversation. I would like to see more community gatherings, especially Inuit gatherings here in Vanier. Mostly for games, for activities, just get togethers to celebrate everyday life. The Inuit community is growing since I have been living in Ottawa for 20 years, so we need more of these activities during the day.”

In celebration of Vanier’s 50th anniversary, local photographer Caleb Ficner is capturing the individuals and places that make up our great community. Chris Penton, President, Beechwood Market “Vanier is home, my home. I grew up nearby. My favourite thing about it is obviously the Beechwood Market, but besides that I love the colourful nature it presents. It is never a dull in Vanier. I think Vanier is going to be more resident driven than a lot of neighbourhoods. You know people are always pointing to its the next Hintonburg, the next Westboro. Nope. I don’t see it being like that at all. I think it’s far more resident driven. And having been involved with the community association, I can tell you there are some very strong community groups in this neighbourhood. I think they there going to decide where Vanier goes. I know areas like Montreal Rd need some improvement and those improvements are coming. Whether it is façade work and all that sort of thing. But as far as economy and economic development goes, I think we are headed in the right direction right now.”