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Welcome to our new website!
Welcome! We hope you find our new website helpful and easier to navigate. It's now as easy to use on your smartphone as your desktop. Take a tour and please tell us what you think.
Whether you are coming for an appointment, making your way to our Emergency Department or staying with us overnight — we know coming to CHEO can sometimes feel intimidating. In this section you'll find everything you need to know to make your visit a success and as stress-free as possible.
Some of our children, youth and staff have severe allergies, so please remember:
Ontario's hospitals are smoke-free zones — including hospital grounds. Provincial Tobacco Control Officers patrol hospital grounds to ensure the province's no-smoking laws are being followed.
Anyone caught smoking on hospital property will be ticketed and could be fined up to $5,000.
To smoke, you must leave hospital property. We also ask that you respect others and don't litter.
CHEO is a scent-free environment
Some of our children, youth and staff have severe allergies, so please avoid using scented products like perfume, cologne, aftershave, body sprays or hair care products.
Notice: Temporary Traffic and Parking Changes
Ongoing construction near CHEO’s main entrance has reduced traffic to one lane. Please allow extra time when arriving.
About 12 parking spots will be temporarily unavailable in the parking lot outside of the main entrance. Parking will remain available in visitor parking lots and CHEO's parking garage.
Thank you for your patience as we make these important upgrades.
Where to park at CHEO
CHEO has two parking areas for families and visitors:
Construction at CHEO
While CHEO undergoes construction, please allow extra time for parking and navigating the campus — signs will guide you!
CHEO’s Parking and Security team is only the press of a button away – use the button on the parking gates to contact our team if you need support finding or accessing parking when you arrive.
Accessible parking spots are available in Lot A, our new parking garage and in the Pay and Display area near the main entrance.
Electric vehicle (EV) parking stations are now available for CHEO families and visitors! There are 21 EV spots located in the parking garage on Ring Road, which is next to the main entrance of the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital.
Visit our parking page for rates and more information.
Preventing the spread of infection
CHEO is a safe place for kids, caregivers and staff. We have an infection control and prevention team who makes sure CHEO upholds infection prevention and control standards and practices in accordance with current provincially and/or federally legislated requirements, and/or currently accepted professional guidelines and recommendations. This includes:
And here's how you can help:
Searching for restricted items
There are times when we need to check patients for things that could cause harm to themselves or others. We do this when we feel a search is needed to keep everyone at CHEO safe. Restricted items can be any personal belonging that could harm a patient or someone else. Learn more about a restricted items search.
Service and emotional support animals
At CHEO, service animals are allowed and, in some instances, emotional-support animals may be able to accompany people to their appointments. If you are a child, youth, caregiver or visitor and have an emotional-support animal that you would like to accompany you to your appointment, please consult with your clinical team before the appointment to confirm whether accommodations can be made for the support animal to visit.
More information on service animals at CHEO
More information on emotional support animals at CHEO
Emotional-support animals provide a valuable service, yet they do not qualify as service animals. In some instances your clinical team may be able to accommodate your request to have your emotional-support animal attend your appointment. It is important that you consult your team before your appointment so that you can identify whether your emotional-support animal can accompany you. If approved, please ensure you bring documentation from a registered health-care professional that indicates the need for the support animal.
Emotional-support animals provide a valuable service, yet they do not qualify as service animals. In some instances your clinical team may be able to accommodate your request to have your emotional-support animal attend your appointment. It is important that you consult your team before your appointment so that you can identify whether your emotional-support animal can accompany you. If approved, please ensure you bring documentation from a registered health-care professional that indicates the need for the support animal.
We want to make each person’s appointment as comfortable as possible and sometimes this prevents support animals from being permitted at CHEO. If your emotional-support Animal is not able to accompany you we will work with you to identify alternative support strategies ahead of your appointment.
Any animal onsite must be fully vaccinated, in good health, and must not pose a threat to people or other animals at CHEO. The owner must be fully responsible for the animal at all times. The animal must be kept on a leash or in a cage while onsite.
If the animal consumes a raw food diet they are not able to come onsite due to the risk of foodborne infection to the pet and to household members.
CHEO offers therapy dog interventions for clients and patients across CHEO. Both the dog and the handler are identified by CHEO-issued ID badges. Please do not touch or engage with a therapy dog.
For an appointment, Emergency Department care, surgery or another procedure.
What to bring
A parent or legal guardian will have to sign the necessary Ministry of Health consent forms for children and youth under 16 years of age.
Personal Health information
Depending on how long your appointment, test or procedure will be, you may want to bring:
Visit our Emergency care page to find helpful information on what to expect in CHEO's emergency department.
In one of our inpatient units
What to bring
A parent or legal guardian will have to sign the necessary Ministry of Health consent forms for children and youth under 16 years of age.
Personal Health information
Depending on the length of stay in hospital, you may want to bring:
Make sure to mark everything with your name.
Where will your child or youth be staying?
There are different inpatient units at CHEO, including Neonatal Intensive Care and Pediatric Intensive Care.
Sometimes a child may be moved within a unit, or moved to a different one, usually because of space pressures. You will be notified in advance if this is to happen.
There are no private rooms, however there are single rooms used for isolation purposes. If your child or youth does not need to be isolated, they will share a room with one or two other children or youth.
Who will be caring for my child or youth?
A whole team of professionals will look after your child or youth when you come to CHEO.
Health-care teams in the hospital are grouped as Patient Service Units (PSUs). These groupings include inpatient and outpatient teams so that no matter where your child is in terms of their recovery, they will remain under the same PSU according to their diagnosis. This makes it easier to have continuity in your child or youth's care. The PSU health-care teams are made up of many different professionals including doctors, nurses, social workers and others. Which team members are involved will depend on your child's or family's needs.
How can I check-in on my child or youth?
As a parent and valued member of your child's care team, you can call CHEO any time for updates. The unit where your child is staying can be reached through the hospital switchboard at 613-737-7600, or directly through the unit's phone number.
Shift change is a busy time and outside calls will not be taken between 7:30-8:30am and 7:30-8:30pm. Other than these times, we're happy to take your calls at any time.
Information is always readily available through your child's nurse, who can also help you reach any other of the health-care team members caring for your child.
Updates and information will only be supplied to the parent or legal guardian of a child. We appreciate you letting other family members or friends to check with you, and not the unit, for information. Respecting the privacy of other children, youth and their families is extremely important.
Head to Toe suicide screening questions
To intervene early with children and youth experiencing suicidal thoughts, CHEO has developed the Head to Toe assessment program. It is now standard practice for all children and youth over the age of 12 to be screened for suicide upon being admitted to CHEO.
What activities are available?
Difference between a parent/caregiver and a visitor
Parent/caregiver: Someone who is over 12 years old and helps a child or youth with activities of daily living – e.g., parent, grandparent, older sibling, legal guardian, etc. A parent/caregiver can be designated by a patient. A parent/caregiver is never considered a visitor because they are a vital part of the care team.
Visitor: Someone who is part of a child's or youth’s family or support network (e.g., sibling, extended family member, friend, etc.) but not a designated parent or caregiver.
Self-screen for illnesses including measles, cold and flu
To make sure we are always putting safety first and minimizing any chance of transmission of infections, please use our quick and confidential illness self-screening tool if you have symptoms or may have been exposed to viral illnesses like cold, COVID, flu or measles.
It will guide you on what to do next and help keep everyone at CHEO safe.
Please review the following information before arriving at CHEO.
Parents and caregivers are important members of the care team. They actively work with us to provide vital health information only they know and give emotional support in the way only a parent or caregiver can.
For infection prevention and safety reasons, we have limits on how many parents, caregivers and visitors can be onsite at one time. We also limit the number at the bedside.
We appreciate your patience and understanding in keeping everyone safe, particularly during the peak viral season.
Last updated: March 2026
Clinic and Surgical Day Unit appointments
Emergency Department visits
Staying at the hospital (admitted to CHEO's inpatient units)
Visitors
Exceptions to these rules
We recognize that some families (e.g., people with disabilities) require additional support to help the patients, parents or caregivers. If you are coming to Emergency, please discuss your need for an exception upon arrival at CHEO Emergency. If you are staying as an inpatient, please discuss this with your care team.
Parents and caregivers who do not pass the entrance screening.
It is important to us that your child or youth receives the care they need. If you require an exception to any of our caregiver/visitor policies to ensure that your child/youth can access care, please contact a member of your care team or reach out to CHEO's Patient Experience team (experience@cheo.on.ca or 613-737-7600 ext. 3078).
Will I be required to wear a face mask while at CHEO?
Visit our Infection Prevention and Control at CHEO page for up-to-date information:
CHEO has several clinics and programs, as well as affiliated partners, located in Ottawa, Cornwall and Renfrew. Find information below about each of these community locations.
About the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub
We are committed to bringing the high-quality care you expect from CHEO closer to home, making it easier to access the health services you and your family need.
The Aline-Chrétien Health Hub (ACHH) in Orleans first opened its doors in 2021 to offer holistic, family-centered services for the entire family – from newborns to seniors. Starting in November 2024, CHEO will join other partner health organizations and offer several services closer to home for children, youth and families in Orleans through the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub (ACHH).
What services are offered at the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub?
Several CHEO clinics, services and programs offer services through the ACHH for children and youth aged 0-17, in addition to the care they continue provide at CHEO’s main campus and other existing community locations:
How to access CHEO services through the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub
For existing CHEO patients and clients: If you are receiving care through one of the programs above, talk to your care team about whether it is possible to schedule your next appointment(s) at the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub.
For children, youth and families not already receiving care through CHEO: Follow the usual referral process for the clinic, service or program you are looking to be referred to - click the links above to learn more about each service! When it is time to book your first appointment, talk with the intake worker/your care team to ask if it is possible to schedule your next appointment(s) at the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub.
Address:
2225 Mer-Bleue Rd,
Orléans (Ontario)
K4A 5M3
Centre for Healthy Active Living
1355 Bank Street
Suite 111
Ottawa ON K1H 8K7
Community Based Rehab Services
In addition to 401 Smyth Road, there are also branches of our Community Based Rehab Services at the following addresses:
Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice
Have you registered for MyChart?
MyChart is a free, secure, online patient portal that connects patients to parts of their CHEO electronic health record, anywhere, at any time.
