Ottawa Charge fans with minutes to go at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on May 8, 2026. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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They’ll be leaving some fans behind, though.

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Jackie Dawson, a self-described super fan and season-ticket holder since the league’s inception, is one supporter who won’t be joining them on that 27-km trek, at least not on a regular basis.

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Until now, Dawson has enjoyed taking her two sons to alternating games at Lansdowne. “It has been wonderful to see them grow up with women’s professional sports normalized and to witness them become huge fans — like their mum!” she explained.

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“The parking, the traffic, the poor road planning around the arena makes it just too annoying,” she added. “It can take as long to get out of the parking lot there as it does to drive home.”

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She hopes to return to the fold if the team moves into a new downtown arena at LeBreton Flats.

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The move to the CTC — precipitated by the Lansdowne 2.0 plan to build a smaller arena than the one they’re already filling — is part of the price the Charge is paying for its success.

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And it’s a price many fans must now pay, too, as they recalculate their relationship with the team based largely on geography.

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Ottawa Charge and Canadian Tire Centre (CTC) logo are seen on a TV screen following a media availability at on July 9, 2026. Photo by Spencer Colby /Ottawa Citizen

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Over the past week, after asking fans and members of the Red Scarf Union supporters’ group on Facebook for their thoughts, I received scores of emails and Facebook messages. Some came from founding season-ticket holders, others from people who had never before considered buying season tickets. The responses were — forgive the pun — all over the map.

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Many fans were heartbroken. The Canadian Tire Centre is just too far away, they said, especially for weeknight games. Public transit is too unreliable, the drive too long and getting out of the parking lot too arduous. Others, though — particularly those in Ottawa’s west end and in communities farther west — welcomed the move, saying they would definitely attend more games than before.

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And some are in a wait-and-see mode.

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“While the larger venue allows the league to accommodate more spectators,” wrote Jennifer Drew, “it may come at the expense of the intimacy and community feeling that have become hallmarks of Ottawa Charge hockey. The bonds between players and fans, and among fans themselves, are harder to maintain in a much larger and more impersonal environment.”

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Drew said she and her family remain undecided about renewing their season tickets until they know more about ticket prices, transit and the team schedule.

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Jennifer Drew is a longtime Ottawa Charge fan who is putting her season tickets on pause while she sees how things like prices, schedule and public transit for games at the Canadian Tire Centre play out. Photo by Jean Levac /Ottawa Citizen

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Contrast that with west-end resident and season-ticket holder Rhonda Hamoui, who is chuffed by the change. Games that previously took her more than an hour to get to will now take just 10 or 15 minutes. She likes the larger arena, improved facilities and the prospect of even larger crowds. And she won’t miss looking for parking in the Glebe or lining up to use a TD Place Arena washroom.