The past season was a good one for Ottawa Senators fans. Their team was finally able to make it back to the playoffs after years of rebuilding – and it keeps getting better. It seems as though a new arena deal could be done soon.

For some time now there have been calls for the team to move out of the Canadian Tire Centre located in Kanata, Ontario. The rink is approximately a 20 minute drive from downtown Ottawa. The arena has been in use since 1996. While certainly not ‘old’ by any standards, the arena being out of the way has been an inconvenience for fans.

LeBreton Flats

The Ottawa Citizen reported that there has been real progress made between the Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC). The Sens have been linked to the 10 acre plot of land in LeBreton Flats for some time now, however no deal was ever agreed upon.

The land is just west of Parliament Hill and the development would include a brand-new arena, alongside an arena district. Back in September, 2024 an agreement for the team to purchase the land between the two sides was announced. The timeline for the formal sale is expected to be done before the end of the calendar year. If possible, it could even be done before the next NCC annual public meeting on September 23rd.

Part of the arena district is suspected to include a residential space, bars, hotels, and restaurants, and would join a long list of arena redevelopments that include broader developments.

What next?

Sens owner Michael Andlauer would have liked the deal to have been completed by now, however there are some hurdles. The soil on the land was determined to be contaminated in environment assessments. The site will need to be remediated before construction can start. The cost of remediation isn’t determined, and while it isn’t holding up the deal, it is part of negotiations.

There currently isn’t a timeline for the rink, and there most likely won’t be until groundbreaking. The team however has visited multiple rinks including Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, Rogers Place in Edmonton, and the New York Islanders’ UBS Arena for inspiration on what the new venue may look like.

The CEO and President of the Senators, Cyril Leeder said on TSN 1200. “We’re fully committed to working away at doing something downtown, bringing a major events centre to the downtown, and we’re working with different partners on that now. We’re trying to make that happen. We’re having ongoing discussions with the NCC. We talked to them. That’s going to be a continued project right on the front of my desk for the foreseeable future.”

On January 17th, 2026 against the Montreal Canadiens, the Senators will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Tire Centre. It seems that it won’t be there much longer either.