Organizers of Santa's Parade of Lights and the Help Santa Toy Parade have worked out an arrangement with the City of Ottawa that will see a scaled-down version of the parades held in Kanata, Ottawa and Orléans on Saturday, Dec. 4.

“It’s going to be called the Help Santa Parade of Lights,” said Bob Rainboth, chairman of Santa’s Parade of Lights. “It’s going to start in the afternoon on Dec. 4 with a small parade in Kanata, followed by the exact same parade downtown and then moving the same parade to Orléans in the evening. By doing so, we start with a day parade and it’s going to transition into a night parade, and therefore it meets all the wonderful elements that we have with both our parades.”

There was concern that the Help Santa Toy Parade and Santa’s Parade of Lights would be canceled for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 restrictions, but on Oct. 25, the provincial government released a new set of regulations further opening up indoor and outdoor settings allowing for greater capacity at organized public events such as Santa Claus parades. That announcement touched off negotiations between the parade organizers – the Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters Association – and the City of Ottawa.

The negotiations were helped when Ottawa’s associate medical officer of health, Dr. Brent Moloughney, said the parade was still a possibility. “Stay tuned, give us a chance to take a look at it, and we will get back to you.”

Details regarding the parade routes and COVID guidelines will be announced this week.

“We’re just finalizing the routes and distances with a big aim on keeping people socially distanced so they can see and participate,” Rainboth explained in an interview with the CBC last Friday.

“The community is contacting us every single day. They want us to be out in the community, and we want to be there for the community, and the end result is we’re able to raise toys for children.”

The Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters Association is encouraging people to either drop off toy donations at their local fire station in a clear plastic bag, or make a monetary donation on the Help Santa Toy Parade website at toyparade.ca.

While the traditional Parade of Lights was canceled last year, organizers did manage to stage a static display in the Place d’Orléans park and ride lot allowing people to see the various floats while staying in their cars.

At the centre of the display was an Ottawa Fire Service ladder truck holding up a 75-foot electric display Christmas tree.