Landmarks and Destinations

Ottawa Quality of Living

In a 2007 survey, MoneySense magazine ranked Ottawa-Gatineau first out of 122 communities in Canada as economically the best place to live. At the same time, Ottawa was ranked 18th in the world among cities with the best quality of life by a global survey published by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, placing it third in Canada, after Vancouver and Toronto. City on the Grow According to the 2006 Census, Ottawa is the fastest-growing G8 city with a population of 1,130,761 in the Ottawa-Gatineau area,... Read More

Fleet Street Pumping Station

Located in an unassuming grey building in LeBreton Flats under Old Wellington Street is the Fleet Street Pumping Station. Opened in 1875 as Ottawa’s first pumping station, it directs unfiltered water from the Ottawa River into the city’s supply system. At first, it used the energy of Chaudiere Falls to force untreated water into the system, until 1915 when an electric motor-driven station was built on Lemieux Island; a complete water purification plant was constructed in 1932. The station was... Read More

Ottawa Parks

Ottawa is a city full of great parks. Here are a few good ones for kids: St Luke’s Park: Operated by the Jack Purcell Community Centre, this is one of the cleanest and safest closed-in parks in the downtown area. Various play structures include swings, basketball nets, and a summer pool. The Bethell Field House was once a field hospital in the 1920s. (Elgin at Frank Streets, behind the Second Cup) Dundonald Park: Home of the Centretown Movies (where a screen is set up in the park for summer showings... Read More

Rideau Hall: Home of the Governor General

The majestic Rideau Hall (perched on a site that overlooks the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers) was originally an 11-room house that Scottish stonemason Thomas McKay built for himself and his family in the 1830s. Thirty years later, the federal government leased the house, along with 80 acres of adjacent “McKay’s bush,” for Governor General Viscount Monck and his household prior to their arrival in Ottawa. Upon Confederation, the house was purchased as the official residence of the Governor General,... Read More

Ottawa Italia

Once you’ve gone through cooking school, or if you want to forego that step, simply head over to Little Italy’s Trattoria Caffé Italia. With one of the best wine cellars in the city, it has been run by the Carrozza family for over 20 years, originally opening in the 1950s as a billiard and card-laying social club for the Preston Street community. On the corner of Gladstone and Preston. Some other recommended Italian restaurants: Allegro Ristorante (422 Preston Street, 235-7454), Ciccio Caffe... Read More

Ottawa Festivals

Perhaps Ottawa should be dubbed the “City of Festivals,” given the numerous events held here per season. To name just a few of them, there is Winterlude, the Ottawa Fringe Festival, West Fest, and the Ottawa Greek Fest. There are well over 45 festivals, special events, and fairs that take place in Ottawa annually, with a variety that is sure to provide something for everyone. Winterlude Staged over three consecutive weekends in February, the annual Winterlude festival consists of more than 120... Read More

Ottawa’s Carnegie Library

Library books were circulated in Ottawa as early as 1871, but the town had no building for that purpose until the early 1900s (before that, it was host to a number of reading rooms in hotel lobbies, as well as some “small fee-based libraries for working men”). In 1897, citizens formed the Public Library Board in order to persuade the city council to free funds to build a library. Eventually, Mayor William Morris wrote to American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (who, in the end, helped fund libraries... Read More

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