Founded in 1826 asBytown, andincorporated as Ottawa in 1855,[17] its original boundaries were expanded through numerous annexations and were ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and amalgamation in 2001. Themunicipal government of Ottawa is established and governed by the City of Ottawa Act of theGovernment of Ontario. It has an elected city council across 24 wards and a mayor elected city-wide, each elected using thefirst-past-the-post voting election system.[18]
The city nameOttawa was chosen in 1855 in reference to theOttawa River, whose name is itself derived from theAlgonquinadawe, meaning "to trade."[23][24] In modern Algonquin, the city is known asOdàwàg.[25]
TheOttawa Valley became habitable around 10,000 years ago, following the natural draining of theChamplain Sea.[26][27] Archaeological findings of arrowheads, tools and pottery indicate that Indigenous populations first settled in the area about 6,500 years ago.[28][29] These findings suggest that theseAlgonquin people were engaged in foraging, hunting and fishing, but also trade and travel. Three major rivers meet within Ottawa, making it an important trade and travel area for thousands of years.[28] The Algonquins are a broad Indigenous people who are closely related to theOdawa andOjibwe peoples.[30][31] This period ended with the arrival of settlers andcolonization of North America by Europeans during and after the 15th century.[32]
In 1610,Étienne Brûlé became the first documented European to navigate theOttawa River, passing what would become Ottawa on his way to theGreat Lakes.[33] Three years later,Samuel de Champlain wrote about the waterfalls in the area and about his encounters with the Algonquin people.[34]
The first non-Indigenous settlement in the area was created byPhilemon Wright, aNew Englander. Wright founded a lumber town in the area on 7 March 1800 on the north side of the river, across from the present-day city of Ottawa inHull.[35][36] He, with five other families and twenty-fivelabourers, also created an agricultural community, which was namedWright's Town.[37][38] Wright pioneered theOttawa Valley timber trade (soon to be the area's most significant economic activity) by transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley toQuebec City.[39]
In 1826, news of the British military's impending construction of theRideau Canal led to land speculators founding a community on the south side of the Ottawa River.[40] The following year, the town was named after British military engineer ColonelJohn By who was responsible for the entire Rideau Waterway construction project.[41] The Rideau canal provided a secure route betweenMontreal andKingston on Lake Ontario. It bypassed a vulnerable stretch of the St. Lawrence River bordering the state of New York that had left re-supply ships bound for southwestern Ontario easily exposed to enemy fire during theWar of 1812.[42]
Camp used by soldiers and labourers of theRideau Canal, on the south side of theOttawa River in 1826. The building of the canal attracted many land speculators to the area.
Colonel By set up military barracks on the site of today'sParliament Hill. He also laid out the streets of the town and created two distinct neighbourhoods named "Upper Town" west of the canal and "Lower Town" east of the canal. Similar to itsUpper Canada andLower Canada namesakes, historically, "Upper Town" was predominantly English-speaking and Protestant, whereas "Lower Town" was mostly French, Irish and Catholic.[43]
Bytown's population grew to 1,000 as the Rideau Canal was completed in 1832.[44][45] Bytown's early pioneer period saw Irish labour unrest during theShiners' War from 1835 to 1845[46] and political dissension that was evident in the 1849Stony Monday Riot, when Tories objected to consideration of Bytown as the capital of the Province of Canada.[47] In 1855, Bytown was renamedOttawa and incorporated as a city.[24]William Pittman Lett was installed as the first city clerk, serving from 1844 to 1891, guiding Ottawa through 36 years of development, leading the hiring of key municipal roles, founding civic organizations, and proposing a set of by-laws for the city.[48][49][50]
The selection of Ottawa as a capital city predates Confederation. The choice was contentious and not straightforward, with the parliament of theUnited Province of Canada holding more than 200 votes over several decades to attempt to settle on a legislative solution to the location of its capital.[51]
The governor-general of the province designatedKingston as the capital in 1841. However, the major population centres ofToronto andMontreal, as well as the former capital of Lower Canada,Quebec City, all had legislators dissatisfied with Kingston as the capital. Anglophone merchants in Quebec were the leading group supportive of the Kingston arrangement.[52] In 1842, a vote rejected Kingston as the capital,[53] and study of potential candidates included the then-named Bytown, but that option proved less popular than Toronto or Montreal.[54] In 1843, a report of the Executive Council recommended Montreal as the capital as a more fortifiable location and commercial centre; however, the governor-general refused to execute a move without a parliamentary vote.[55] In 1844, theQueen's acceptance of a parliamentary vote moved the capital to Montreal.[56]
In 1849, after anOrange mobburned the Parliament building in Montreal, several votes were held on a permanent location. Kingston and Bytown were again considered potential capitals. However, the winning proposal was for two cities to share capital status and the legislature to alternate sitting in each: Quebec City and Toronto, in a policy known as perambulation.[57][58] Logistical difficulties made this an unpopular arrangement,[59] and an 1856 vote passed for the lower house of parliament to relocate permanently to Quebec City. However the upper house refused to approve funding.[60]
The funding impasse led to the ending of the legislature's role in determining the seat of government. The legislature requested the Queen determine the seat of government. The Queen then acted on the advice of her governor generalEdmund Head,[61] who, after reviewing proposals from various cities, selected the recently renamed Ottawa. The Queen sent a letter to colonial authorities selecting Ottawa as the capital, effective 31 December 1857.George Brown, briefly a co-premier of the Province of Canada, attempted to reverse this decision but was unsuccessful. The Parliament ratified the Queen's choice in 1859, with Quebec serving as interim capital from 1859 to 1865.[51][62] The relocation process began in 1865, with the first session of Parliament held in the new buildings in 1866. The buildings were generally well received by legislators.[63]
Ottawa was chosen as the capital in 1857 for two primary reasons.[64] First, Ottawa's isolated location, surrounded by dense forest far from the Canada–US border and situated on a cliff face, would make it more defensible from attack.[65][66] Second, Ottawa was on the border betweenCanada West andCanada East, making the selection an important political compromise.[67][68]
Other minor considerations also favoured Ottawa. Despite the city's regional isolation, there was water transportation access from spring to fall, both to Montreal via the Ottawa River, and to Kingston via theRideau Waterway.[69] Additionally, by 1854 it also had a modern all-season railway (theBytown and Prescott Railway) that carried passengers, lumber and supplies the 82 kilometres (50 miles) toPrescott on theSaint Lawrence River and beyond.[37][65] Ottawa's small size was also thought to be less prone to politically motivated mob violence, as had happened in theprevious Canadian capitals.[70] Finally, the government already owned the land that eventually becameParliament Hill, which it thought would be an ideal location for the Parliament buildings.[67]
The original Parliament buildings, which included the Centre, East and West Blocks, were constructed between 1859 and 1866 in theGothic Revival style.[71] At the time, this was the largest North American construction project ever attempted andPublic Works Canada and its architects were not initially well prepared for the relatively shallow-lying bedrock and had to redesign architectural drawings, leading to delays. TheLibrary of Parliament and Parliament Hill landscaping were completed in 1876.[72]
Starting in the 1850s, entrepreneurs known as lumber barons began to build large sawmills, which became some of the largest mills in the world.[73]Rail lines built in 1854 connected Ottawa to areas south and, from 1886 to the transcontinental rail network via Hull andLachute, Quebec.[74] By 1885 Ottawa was the only city in Canada whose downtown street-lights were powered entirely by electricity.[75] In 1889, the Government developed and distributed 60 "water leases" (still in use) to mainly local industrialists which gave them permission to generate electricity and operate hydroelectric generators atChaudière Falls.[76] Public transportation began in 1870 with ahorsecar system,[77] overtaken in the 1890s by a vastelectric streetcar system that operated until 1959.[78]
TheHull–Ottawa fire of 1900 destroyed two-thirds of Hull, including 40 percent of its residential buildings and most of the buildings of its largest employers along the waterfront.[79] It began as a chimney fire in Hull on the north side of the river, but due to wind, spread rapidly throughout the widespread wooden buildings. In Ottawa, it destroyed about one-fifth of the buildings from the Lebreton Flats south to Booth Street and down toDow's Lake.[80][81] The fire had a disproportionate effect on west-end lower-income neighbourhoods. It had also spread among many lumber yards, a major part of Ottawa's economy. The fire destroyed approximately 3200 buildings and caused an estimated $300 million in damage (in 2020 Canadian dollars).[82] An estimated 14% of Ottawans were left homeless.[83]
Ottawa Post Office, located in Confederation Square, pictured in the early 20th century
The location of what is nowConfederation Square was a former commercial district centrally located in a triangular area downtown surrounded by historically significant heritage buildings, including the Parliament buildings. It was redeveloped as a ceremonial centre in 1938 as part of theCity Beautiful Movement. It became the site of theNational War Memorial in 1939 and was designated aNational Historic Site in 1984.[89] A newCentral Post Office (now thePrivy Council of Canada) was constructed in 1939 beside the War Memorial because the original post office building on the proposed Confederation Square grounds had to be demolished.[90]
Ottawa's former industrial appearance was vastly altered by the 1950Greber Plan.[91] Prime MinisterMackenzie King hired French architect-plannerJacques Greber to design an urban plan for managing development in the National Capital Region, to make it more aesthetically pleasing and a location more befitting for Canada's political centre.[92][93] Greber's plan included the creation of theNational Capital Greenbelt, theKichi Zibi Mikan and theQueensway highway system. His plan also called for changes in institutions such as moving downtown Union Station (now theSenate of Canada Building) to the suburbs, the removal of the street car system, the decentralization of selected government offices, the relocation of industries and removal of substandard housing from the downtown. The plan also recommended the creation of the Rideau Canal and Ottawa River pathways.[92][94][95]
In 1958, theNational Capital Commission was established as aCrown Corporation through the National Capital Act. The commission's original mission was to implement the Greber Plan recommendations conducted during the 1960s and 1970s.[96] This marked the creation of a permanent political infrastructure for managing thecapital region. Prior attempts to do so in the previous 50 years had been temporary. These included plans from the 1899 Ottawa Improvement Commission (OIC), the Todd Plan in 1903, the Holt Report in 1915 and the Federal District Commission (FDC) established in 1927 with a 16-year mandate.[97][98]
From 1931 to 1958, City Hall had been at theTransportation Building adjacent to Union Station (now part of theRideau Centre). In 1958, a newCity Hall opened on Green Island near Rideau Falls, where urban renewal had recently transformed this industrial location into a green space.[99] In 2001,Ottawa City Hall returned downtown to a 1990 building on 110 Laurier Avenue West, the home of the now-defunctRegional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. This new location was close to Ottawa'sfirst (1849–1877) andsecond (1877–1931) City Halls.[100] This new city hall complex also contained an adjacent 19th-century restored heritage building formerly known as theOttawa Normal School.[99]
From the 1960s to the 1980s, there was a large increase in construction in the National Capital Region,[101] which was followed by large growth in thehigh-tech industry during the 1990s and 2000s.[102] Ottawa became one of Canada's largest high-tech cities and was nicknamed Silicon Valley North. By the 1980s, Bell Northern Research (laterNortel) employed thousands, and large federally assisted research facilities such as theNational Research Council contributed to an eventual technology boom. The early companies led to newer firms such asNewbridge Networks,Mitel andCorel.[103][104]
In 1991, provincial and federal governments responded to aland claim submitted by the Algonquins of Ontario regarding the unceded status of the land on which Ottawa is situated.[105] Negotiations have been ongoing, with an eventual goal to sign a treaty that would release Canada from claims for misuse of land under Algonquintitle, affirm rights of the Algonquins, and negotiate conditions of the title transfer.[106]
Ottawa's city limits have expanded over time, including a large expansion effective 1 January 2001, when the province ofOntario amalgamated all the constituent municipalities of theRegional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton into a single city.[107] Regional ChairBob Chiarelli was elected as the new city's first mayor in the2000 municipal election, defeatingGloucester mayor Claudette Cain.[108] The city's growth led to strains on the public transit system and road bridges. On 15 October 2001, a diesel-poweredlight rail transit (LRT) line was introduced on an experimental basis. Known today asO-TrainLine 2, it was dubbed the O-Train and connecteddowntown Ottawa to the southern suburbs viaCarleton University. The decision to extend the O-Train, and to replace it with an electric light rail system, was a major issue in the2006 municipal elections, where Chiarelli was defeated by businessmanLarry O'Brien.[109] After O'Brien's election, transit plans were changed to establish a series of light rail stations from the east side of the city into downtown, and for using a tunnel through the downtown core.[110]Jim Watson, the last mayor of Ottawa before amalgamation, was re-elected in the2010 election.[111]
In October 2012, the City Council approved the finalLansdowne Park plan, an agreement with theOttawa Sports and Entertainment Group that saw a new stadium, increased green space and housing and retail added to the site.[112][113] In December 2012, City Council voted unanimously to move forward with theConfederation Line, a 12.5 km (7.8 mi) light rail transit line, which was opened on 14 September 2019.[114]
The present-day city of Ottawa consists of the historic mainurban area, as well as other urban, suburban andrural areas within the city's post-amalgamation limits.[115]
Old Ottawa refers to the former pre-amalgamation city, as well as the former city ofVanier, a densely populated, historically francophone, working class enclave, and the formervillage ofRockcliffe Park, a wealthy residential neighbourhood adjacent to the Prime Minister's official residence at 24 Sussex and the Governor General's residence.[116][117] The old city includes thedowntown core and older neighbourhoods to the east, west, and south. These vibrant neighbourhoods include the bustling commercial and cultural areas of Old Ottawa South,Centretown,Lower Town, andSandy Hill, the affluent tree-lined neighbourhoods ofThe Glebe,Westboro, andNew Edinburgh, and the historicallyblue-collar communities ofHintonburg,Mechanicsville,Carlington, andLeBreton Flats, with a mixture of housing types, artist lofts, and industrial uses. The old city also includes theethnic enclaves ofChinatown andLittle Italy.
The main suburban areas extend a considerable distance to the east, west and south of the inner-city.[121][122] These areas also include the former cities of Cumberland, Gloucester (with the large suburban district ofOrleans outside thegreenbelt split between them),Kanata, and Nepean.[123] The towns ofStittsville andRichmond within the formerGoulbourn Township are to the southwest.[116][124] Nepean as a suburb also includesBarrhaven.[116][125] The communities ofManotick andRiverside South are on the other side of the Rideau River, andGreely, southeast of Riverside South.[116]
Completed in 1913, theConnaught Building was constructed in a Gothic Revival style.
Influenced by government structures, much of the city's architecture tends to be formal andfunctional; the city is also marked byRomantic andPicturesque styles of architecture such as the Parliament Buildings' gothic revival architecture.[126] Ottawa's domestic architecture contains single-family homes, but also includes smaller numbers ofsemi-detached houses,rowhouses, andapartment buildings.[127] Many domestic buildings in Centretown are clad in red brick, with trim in wood, stone, or metal; variations are common, depending on the cultural heritage of the neighbourhoods and the time they were built.[128]
Theskyline has been controlled by building height restrictions originally implemented to keep Parliament Hill and the Peace Tower at 92.2 m (302 ft) visible from most parts of the city.[129] Today,several buildings are slightly taller than the Peace Tower, with the tallest being theClaridge Icon at 143 metres (469 ft).[130] Many federal buildings in the National Capital Region are managed byPublic Works Canada, which leads toheritage conservation in its renovations and management of buildings, such as the renovation of theSenate Building.[131][132] Most of the federal land in the region is managed by the National Capital Commission; its control of much undeveloped land and appropriations powers gives the NCC a great deal of influence over the city's development.[133][134][135]
Ottawa has awarm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen:Dfb,TrewarthaDcbo/Dcbc)[136] with four distinct seasons and is between Zones 5a and 5b on the Canadian Plant Hardiness Scale.[137] The average July maximum temperature is 26.7 °C (80 °F). The average January minimum temperature is −14.0 °C (6.8 °F).[138] The highest temperature ever recorded in Ottawa was 37.8 °C (100 °F) on 4 July 1913, 1 August 1917 and 11 August 1944.[139][138]
Summers are generally warm and humid in Ottawa. On average, there are 13.4 days across the three summer months of June, July and August that have temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F).[138] Periods of hotter weather are normally accompanied by high humidity levels.[138]
Snow and ice are dominant during the winter season. On average, almost every day of January, February and March has more than 5 cm of snowpack (29, 28, and 23 days, respectively), and on average, approximately 13 days a year see 5 cm or more of snowfall, with 5 of those having over 10 cm.[138]
An average of 15 days of the year experience temperatures below −20 °C (−4 °F).[138] Spring and fall are variable, prone to extreme changes in temperature and conditions. The month of May, for example, on average gets a day below freezing at night every other year, conversely a day surpassing 30 °C[138]
Annual rainfall averages around 772mm per year, total precipitation 938mm[138] spread throughout the year, with some variation. May through November are the months more likely to see significant precipitation events, with each month having an average of 3 days of over 10 mm of precipitation, with December through April seeing on average 1–2 days. May through November have, on average, over 80 mm of rainfall per month, with peaks of approximately 90 mm in June and July. December through April have less than 80 mm, with February being the driest month at an average of 5 cm of precipitation.[138]
Ottawa experiences about 2,080 hours of average sunshine annually (45% of possible).[140] Predominate wind direction in Ottawa is from theWest, Easterly air flow is more common during periods of wet weather as well as localized river/lake-effectcells on summer afternoons.[141] Windspeed is on average higher during the winter, with northerly winds predominating during cold waves.[139][141][142][138][140][143]
Ottawa is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River and contains the mouths of theRideau River andRideau Canal.[148] The Rideau Canal (Rideau Waterway) first opened in 1832 and is 202 km (126 mi) long.[149] It connects the Saint Lawrence River on Lake Ontario at Kingston to the Ottawa River near Parliament Hill. It was able to bypass the unnavigable sections of theCataraqui and Rideau rivers and various small lakes along the waterway due to flooding techniques and the construction of 47 water transportlocks.
Ottawa is situated in a lowland on top ofPaleozoic carbonate and shale and is surrounded by more craggyPrecambrian igneous and metamorphic formations. Ottawa has had fluvialdeposition oftill and sands, leading to the widespread formation ofeskers. There are limited distinct features arising from glacial deposits, but Ottawa was affected by theLate Wisconsian advance. Before the draining of the Champlain Sea, the area had high salinity. After the draining of the sea, the area had pine-dominated forests.[150] Ottawa is located within theWestern Quebec Seismic Zone, and while relatively inactive, the city does occasionally experience earthquakes.[151][152][153][154][155]
During part of the winter season the Ottawa section of the canal forms the world's largest skating rink, thereby providing both a recreational venue and a 7.8 km (4.8 mi) transportation path to downtown for ice skaters (from Carleton University and Dow's Lake to the Rideau Centre andNational Arts Centre).[156] On 29 June 2007, the Rideau Canal was recognized as aUNESCO World Heritage Site.[157]
The older part of the city (including what remains of Bytown) is known asLower Town,[158] and occupies an area between the canal and the rivers. Across the canal to the west lie bothCentretown andDowntown Ottawa, which share a border along Gloucester Street.[159] These core neighbourhoods contain streets such asElgin andBank, which fill the role of commercialmain streets in the region.[160]
Across the Ottawa River, which forms the border between Ontario andQuebec, lies the city ofGatineau, itself the result of amalgamation of the former Quebec cities ofHull andAylmer.[165] Although formally and administratively separate cities in two different provinces, Ottawa and Gatineau (along with several nearby municipalities) collectively constitute theNational Capital Region, which is considered a single metropolitan area.[166] One federalCrown corporation, the National Capital Commission, or NCC, has significant land holdings in both cities, including sites of historical and touristic importance.[166] The NCC, through its responsibility for planning and development of these lands, has a crucial role in shaping the development of the city.[167] Around the main urban area is an extensivegreenbelt, administered by the NCC for conservation and leisure, and comprising mostly forest, farmland and marshland.[168]
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Ottawa had a population of1,017,449 living in407,252 of its427,113 total private dwellings, a change of8.9% from its 2016 population of934,243. With a land area of 2,788.2 km2 (1,076.5 sq mi), it had a population density of364.9/km2 (945.1/sq mi) in 2021.[176]
As of 2021 the Ottawa-Gatineaucensus metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of1,488,307 living in604,721 of its638,013 total private dwellings, a change of8.5% from its 2016 population of1,371,576. With a land area of 8,046.99 km2 (3,106.96 sq mi), it had a population density of185.0/km2 (479.0/sq mi) in 2021.[177]
Ottawa's median age of 40.1 is below the provincial and national averages as of 2016. Youths under 15 constituted 16.7% of the total population in 2016, while those of retirement age (65 years and older) made up 15.4%.[178]
The2021 census reported thatimmigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 259,215 persons or 25.9% of the total population of Ottawa. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin wereChina (20,320 persons or 7.8%),India (16,200 persons or 6.2%),United Kingdom (14,760 persons or 5.7%),Lebanon (11,900 persons or 4.6%),Philippines (10,505 persons or 4.1%),United States of America (8,795 persons or 3.4%),Haiti (6,710 persons or 2.6%),Syria (6,370 persons or 2.5%),Vietnam (6,155 persons or 2.4%), andIran (6,000 persons or 2.3%).[179]
As of 2021, approximately 64.9% of Ottawa's population were white or European, while 2.6% wereIndigenous, and 32.5% were visible minorities (higher than the national percentage of 26.5%).[180]
In 2011[update], around 65% of Ottawa residents described themselves as Christian, withCatholics accounting for 38.5% of the population and members ofProtestant churches 25%. Other religions were also present in Ottawa, the most prominent beingIslam (6.7%),Hinduism (1.4%),Buddhism (1.3%), andJudaism (1.2%). Those with no religious affiliation represented 22.8%.[181]
Those who identify their mother tongue asEnglish constitute 62.4 percent, while those withFrench as their mother tongue make up 14.2 percent of the population. Regarding respondents' knowledge of one or both official languages, 59.9 percent and 1.5 percent of the population know English and French only, respectively, while 37.2 percent know both official languages.Bilingualism became official policy for the conduct of municipal business in 2002,[182] making it the largest city in Canada with both English and French as co-official languages.[183]
The overall Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) has a larger proportion of French speakers than Ottawa sinceGatineau's population's first language is mostly French. However, Gatineau is also the most bilingual city in Canada, making the region one of the most bilingual. An additional 20.4 percent of the population list languages other than English and French as their mother tongue. These includeArabic (3.2%),Chinese (3.0%),Spanish (1.2%),Italian (1.1%), and many others.[181]
As of 2015, the region of Ottawa-Gatineau has the sixth-highest total household income of all Canadian metropolitan areas ($82,053), and the Ontario portion more directly overlapping the City of Ottawa has a higher household income ($86,451).[184] The median household income after taxes in the City of Ottawa is $73,745 in 2016 was higher than the national median of $61,348.[185] Ottawa's unemployment rate has remained below the national and provincial unemployment rates since 2006, with a rate of 5.2% in April 2022, low compared to the decade preceding.[186][187] In 2019Mercer ranks Ottawa with the third highest quality of living of any Canadian city, and 19th highest in the world.[188] It is also rated the second cleanest city in Canada, and third cleanest city in the world.[189]
As Canada's national capital, tourism is an important part of Ottawa's economy, particularly after the150th anniversary of Canada, centred in Ottawa. The lead-up to the festivities saw much investment in civic infrastructure, upgrades to tourist infrastructure and increases in national cultural attractions.[193] The National Capital Region annually attracts an estimated 22 million tourists, who spend about 2.2 billion dollars and support 30,600 jobs directly.[194][195]
In addition to the economic activities that come with being the national capital, Ottawa is an important technology centre; in 2015, its 1800 companies employed approximately 63,400 people.[196] The concentration of companies in this industry earned the city the nickname of "Silicon Valley North."[102] Most of these companies specialize intelecommunications,software development andenvironmental technology. Large technology companies such as Nortel, Corel,Mitel,Cognos,Halogen Software,Shopify andJDS Uniphase were founded in the city.[197] Ottawa also has regional locations forNokia,3M,Adobe Systems,Bell Canada,IBM andHewlett-Packard.[198] Many of the telecommunications and new technology are in the western part of the city (formerly Kanata). The "tech sector" was doing particularly well in 2015/2016.[199][200]Nordion,i-Stat and the National Research Council of Canada andOHRI are part of the growing life science sector.[201][202]
The health sector is another major employer, which employs over 18,000 people in the city.[203] Business, finance, administration, and sales and service rank high among types of occupations.[175] Approximately ten percent of Ottawa's GDP is derived from finance, insurance and real estate whereas employment in goods-producing industries is only half the national average.[204] The City of Ottawa is the second largest employer[205][206] with approximately 2,100 people employed by the Ottawa Police service, and 13,300 full-time equivalent non-police employees.[207][208]
In 2016, Ottawa experienced an increase of 10,000 jobs over the 2012 average growth, which was relatively slower than in the late 1990s.[190][209] All major clusters tracked by the city saw increases in employment between 2014 and 2019.[210] Major areas of growth in the 2010s included local and federal administration, finance and accommodation.[190] Between 2008 and 2020, there was growth in the number of government employees and a reduction in high-tech jobs, a reversal of previous trends from 2003 to 2008.[209][210]
Ottawa already has the largest rural economy among Canada's major cities.[211] In Ottawa, the rural economy contributes over $1 billion to the GDP. Agriculture alone accounts for $400 million, $136.7 million of which is farm-gate sales.[212] Rural economic activity includes agriculture, retail sales, construction, forestry and mining (aggregates), tourism, manufacturing, personal and business services, and transportation, to name a few. Rural employment expanded by a healthy 18% from 1996 to 2001.[211]
Three main daily local newspapers are printed in Ottawa: two English newspapers, theOttawa Citizen established asthe Bytown Packet in 1845 and theOttawa Sun, and one French newspaper,Le Droit.[213][214] The city is also home to local stations of the television broadcast networks and systemsCBC andCTV, as well as English and French radio stations.[215][216][217]
In addition to the market's local media services, Ottawa is home to several national media operations, includingCPAC (Canada's national legislature broadcaster)[218] and the parliamentary bureau staff of virtually all of Canada's major newsgathering organizations in television, radio and print. The city is also home to the head office of theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation.[219]
TheOttawa Public Library was created in 1906 as part of theCarnegie library system.[225] as of 2008[update] the library system had 2.3 million items at its 34 branches and two mobile libraries.[226] Approximately 9.5 million loans were conducted in 2020, approximately 6.7 million physical loans and the remainder digital items.[227]
Ottawa is known as the most educated city in Canada, with over half the population having graduated from college and/or university.[228] Ottawa has the highest per capita concentration ofengineers,scientists, and residents withPhDs in Canada.[229] The city has two main public universities and two main public colleges.
Carleton University was founded in 1942 to meet the needs of returning World War II veterans and later became Ontario's first private, non-denominational college. Over time, Carleton transitioned into the highly ranked comprehensive university it is today.[230] The university's main campus sits betweenOld Ottawa South and Dow's Lake. Carleton's catholicaffiliated university college, is the Dominican University College.[231]
TheUniversity of Ottawa (originally named the "College of Bytown") was the first post-secondary institution established in the city in 1848. The university later grew to become the largest English-French bilingual university in the world.[232] It is also a member of theU15, a group of highly respected research-intensive universities in Canada.[233] The university's main campus is in theSandy Hill neighbourhood, just adjacent to the city's downtown core. The University of Ottawa's catholicaffiliated university college isSt. Paul University.
Ottawa is home to several regional dishes. As a city with traditional French-Canadian roots, staples such aspoutine are served throughout the city. However, many considershawarma Ottawa's official dish;[258] the city contains more shawarma restaurants than anywhere else in Canada.[259] The city is also home to "Ottawa-style"pizza, consisting usually of a thicker doughy crust and slightly spicy pizza sauce, with the toppings baked under a heavy layer of cheese, keeping the toppings soft.[260]Beaver tails, a fried dough pastry, were first created in Ottawa in the 1970s.Le Cordon Bleu has a long-established culinary arts institute in the central Ottawa neighbourhood of Sandy Hill, the only Le Cordon Bleu campus in North America.[261]
Sport in Ottawa has a history dating back to the 19th century. The city is currently home to six professional sports teams. TheOttawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team playing in theNational Hockey League. The Senators history in Ottawa dates back to 1883; the franchise would go on to win theStanley Cup eleven times by 1927. The team is currently a member of the Atlantic Division and play their home games at theCanadian Tire Centre.[266] In 2023, theOttawa Charge became one of the six charter franchises of theProfessional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).[267] The Charge play home games atTD Place Arena.
The University of Ottawa and Carleton Universityvarsity teams compete inU Sports in various sports. Algonquin College and Collège La Cité teams compete in theOCAA.
Along with being the capital of Canada, Ottawa is politically diverse in local politics. Most of the city has traditionally supported theLiberal Party in federal elections.[283][284] The safest areas for the Liberals are the ones dominated byFrancophones, especially in Vanier and central Gloucester.[283] Central Ottawa is usually moreleft-leaning, and theNew Democratic Party have won ridings there.[285] Some of Ottawa's suburbs are swing areas, such as central Nepean. Another example of a swing area is Orleans, despite its often Liberal Party-aligned francophone population.[283] Ridings further outside the city centre, such as those including Kanata, Barrhaven and rural areas, tend to be more conservative, fiscally and socially.[283] This is especially true in the former Townships ofWest Carleton,Goulbourn,Rideau andOsgoode, which are more in line with the conservative areas in the surroundingcounties.[283] Rural parts of the former township ofCumberland, with a large number of Francophones, traditionally support the Liberal Party, though their support has recently weakened.[283]
Ottawa's public transit system is managed byOC Transpo.[287] OC Transpo operates an integrated, multi-modal rapid transit system which includes:
TheO-Train light rail system. The four-line public rail system includes three existing lines and one currently under construction.
Line 1 is an east–west line which operates medium-capacity light rail vehicles and travels under the city's downtown core.[288]
Line 2 is a north–south rail transit corridor which utilizes a mix of Stadler FLIRTs and Alstom Coradia LINTs connecting the south end of Ottawa to Line 1 atBayview station.[289][290]
A vastbus rapid transit (BRT) system that uses a series of dedicated bus-only roadways named theTransitway and reserved lanes on city streets and highways. The Transitway has long distances between stops and full station amenities (including platforms, walkways, fare gates, ticket booths, elevators and convenience stores). It connects Ottawa's suburbs to the inner city. The Rapid bus service network operates all day, seven days a week, reaching the suburban communities of Kanata to the West, Barrhaven to the South-West, Orléans to the East, and South Keys to the South.[292]
Over 190 local bus routes are served by a fleet of ordinary, articulated and double-decker buses.[292] Both OC Transpo and the Quebec-basedSociété de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) operate bus transit services between Ottawa and Gatineau. OC Transpo also operates a door-to-door bus service for disabled individuals known as ParaTranspo.[287] There is aproposed LRT system that could link Ottawa with Gatineau.[293]
The City of Ottawa has over 12,200 km (7,600 mi) lane-kilometres of road and a series of freeways. The primary freeways are the east–west provincialHighway 417 (designated as the Queensway and part of theTrans-Canada Highway), Ottawa-CarletonHighway 174 (formerly Provincial Highway 17),Highway 7, and the north–south provincialHighway 416 (designated as Veterans' Memorial Highway), which connects to other400-Series highways via the 401.[302][303] From downtown there are also freeway connections toAutoroute 5 andAutoroute 50, in neighbouring Gatineau.[304]
Numerous pavedmulti-use trails, mostly operated by theNational Capital Commission and the city, wind their way through much of the capital, including along the Ottawa River, Rideau River, and Rideau Canal.These pathways are used for transportation, tourism, and recreation. Because many streets either have wide curb lanes or bicycle lanes, cycling is a mode of transportation used by up to 2.5% of citizens, including in winter. This is the largest percentage of any major Canadian city.[306][307][308] As of 31 December 2015, over 900 km (560 mi) of cycling facilities are found in Ottawa, including 435 km (270 mi) of multi-use pathways, 8 km (5.0 mi) of cycle tracks, 200 km (120 mi) of on-road bicycle lanes, and 257 km (160 mi) of paved shoulders.[309] 204 km (127 mi) of new cycling facilities were added between 2011 and 2014.[309]
The entire length ofSparks Street was turned into apedestrian mall in 1966.[310] Since 1960, additional avenues, streets, and parkways, are reserved for pedestrian and bicycle use only on Saturdays, Sundays and on selected holidays and events.[311] In 2021 city council unanimously approved theByward Market Public Realm Plan to make the market area morecar-free and pedestrian friendly.[312] From 2009 to 2015 the NCC introduced theCapital Bixibicycle-sharing system. This continued until the company VeloGo took over the program from 2015 to 2018 when the partnership ceased.[313][314]Scooter-sharing systems have since been introduced in the downtown and inner-city areas.[when?]
^In early 2001, the Province of Ontario dissolved the former City of Ottawa by amalgamating it with eleven other municipalities to form a new City of Ottawa. The 1996 adjusted population of the amalgamated city published in the 2001 census was 721,136,[173] while the population of the dissolved former City of Ottawa in 2001 was 337,031.[174]
^abArt Montague (2008).Ottawa Book of Everything(PDF). MacIntyre Purcell Publishing. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved14 July 2011.
^"National Capital Act (R. S. C., 1985, c. N-4)"(PDF). Department of Justice. 22 June 2011. p. 13 Schedule (Section 2) 'Description of National Capital Region'.Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved8 July 2011.
^Bosc, Marc; Gagnon, André, eds. (2017)."Ottawa as the Seat of Government".House of Commons Procedure and Practice (3rd ed.).Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved20 July 2022.
^abPilon, Jean-Luc."Ancient History of the Lower Ottawa River Valley"(PDF).Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee. Ontario Archaeology – Canadian Museum of Civilization.Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved9 November 2015.
^Bryan D. Cook (2015).Introducing William Pittman Lett: Ottawa's first city clerk and bard (1819–1892). B.D.C. Ottawa Consulting. p. 412.ISBN978-1-771363-42-6.
^Ottawa City Council, 31 May 1875,Motion Concerning Compensation to Mrs Sowdon, moved by Aldermen Rocque ans Pratte.
^Lett, W. P.Proposal to the City Constitution Committee 10 August 1877, City of Ottawa Archives /MG 037-8-1 p. 77.
^Knight, David B (1991).Choosing Canada's capital: conflict resolution in a parliamentary system. Carleton university Press. pp. 47–50.
^Gordon, D.L.A., & Osborne, B. (2004). Constructing national identity in Canada's capital, 1900–2000: Confederation Square and the National War Memorial.Journal of Historical Geography 30, (4):618-642
^Knight, David B (1991).Choosing Canada's capital: conflict resolution in a parliamentary system. Carleton university Press. pp. 71.
^Knight, David B (1991).Choosing Canada's capital: conflict resolution in a parliamentary system. Carleton university Press. pp. 74–86
^Knight, David B (1991).Choosing Canada's capital: conflict resolution in a parliamentary system. Carleton university Press. pp. 88.
^Algonquins of Ontario; Government of Ontario; Government of Canada."Agreement in Principle"(PDF). p. 2.3.5.Archived(PDF) from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved13 July 2022.
^Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada (7 December 2015)."GEOSCAN Search Results: Fastlink".geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved13 August 2022.
^Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada."Earthquake zones in Eastern Canada".earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved13 August 2022.
^Jessica Brown; Nora J. Mitchell; Michael Beresford, eds. (2005).The protected landscape approach: linking nature, culture and community. IUCN—The World Conservation Union. p. 195.ISBN978-2-8317-0797-6.
^"CECCE: Liste des écoles". Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est. 21 May 2004.Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved13 March 2011.
^"Accueil". Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario.Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved13 March 2011.
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