Quick Facts

National War Memorial at Confederation Square

Geography

  • Population - 900,000
  • Area: 2,796 square kilometres or 1,080 square miles, 90 kilometres east to west
  • Ottawa's area is almost 80 per cent rural
  • Ottawa can be found at: Latitude 45° 19'N and Longitude 75° 40'W, approximately the same latitude as Venice (Italy), Bordeaux (France), and Sapporo (Japan)

Family with canadian flags standing in front of Parliament Hill. Photo courtesy of Ottawa Tourism.

Climate

  • Ottawa temperatures can range from 33°C (91°F) in summer to -40°C (-40°F) in winter, with average summer temperatures around 20°C (68°F) and average winter temperatures around -10°C (14°F).

Museum of Civilization

Museums and Festivals

  • Ottawa has 30 museums—the highest concentration of museums of any region in Canada. This includes the Canadian Musuem of Civilization, which is the most visited museum in Canada.
  • Ottawa has no shortage of important festivals: Ottawa holds the world’s largest chamber music festival in late summer and the world’s largest tulip festival in the spring. It is also the site for the world’s second largest blues music festival—the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest—that takes place in July. The Bluesfest is second only to the Chicago blues festival.

People skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway

Outdoor Attractions

  • Ottawa’s Rideau Canal is the world's largest, naturally frozen ice rink and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is the oldest, continuously operated canal system in North America.
  • Ottawa has one of the longest networks of scenic recreational paths in any North American city (150 km or 93 m). On Sunday mornings in summer, some of the parkways are closed to vehicle traffic, giving cyclists, joggers, in-line skaters and walkers 25 km (15 m) of parkway to enjoy. In total, there are over 300 km of bike trail and over 200km of cross-country ski trail in the region.

First Nations man dancing. Photo courtesy of Ottawa Tourism.

History

  • Ottawa was originally home the Algonquin First Nations tribe.
  • Bytown became Ottawa on January 1, 1855 when Bytown was formally incorporated as a city and adopted the new name.
  • In 1857, Queen Victorian chose Ottawa to be the capital of the Province of Canada, which led to the city’s further development.
  • Since the 1960s, Ottawa has grown into a world-class capital with numerous museums, art galleries, and cultural festivals.

Couple enjoying a stroll. Photo courtesy of Ottawa Tourism.

Quality of Life

  • Ottawa is 18th in a survey of 200 cities worldwide for best quality of life. The survey was conducted by Mercer Human Resources International.

Ottawa is Canada's most affordable city, ranking 90th out of 144 international cities on the list of most expensive cities.

View of the Rideau Canal in summer

Workforce

  • Ottawa is also the home of the Government of Canada, Parliament, the Senate, the Supreme Court of Canada and other government bodies.
  • Ottawa has more engineers, scientists and PhD graduates per capita than any other city in the country.
  • Ottawa is home to such high-tech giants as Nortel Networks, Alcatel, Cognos, Tundra, Cisco, MDS Nordion and Entrust. Dell, MBNA Canada, ING Direct, Clarica and MD Management also make Ottawa a centre for business.
  • In Ottawa, more than 1,800 advanced technology companies employ more than 81,000 people.

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