74-722: Table Head is a Neighborhood in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia , located in Glace Bay in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality on Cape Breton Island . On December 15, 1902 Guglielmo Marconi established trans-Atlantic communication between Table Head in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia and Poldhu in Cornwall , England using a 60 kilowatt transmitter and four 210-foot (64 m) towers. The site of
148-457: A horsecar system, overtaken in the 1890s by a vast electric streetcar system that operated until 1959. The Hull–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. It began as a chimney fire in Hull on the north side of the river, but due to wind, spread rapidly throughout
222-476: A land claim submitted by the Algonquins of Ontario regarding the unceded status of the land on which Ottawa is situated. Negotiations have been ongoing, with an eventual goal to sign a treaty that would release Canada from claims for misuse of land under Algonquin title , affirm rights of the Algonquins, and negotiate conditions of the title transfer. Ottawa's city limits have expanded over time, including
296-544: A 16-year mandate. From 1931 to 1958, City Hall had been at the Transportation Building adjacent to Union Station (now part of the Rideau Centre ). In 1958, a new City Hall opened on Green Island near Rideau Falls, where urban renewal had recently transformed this industrial location into a green space. In 2001, Ottawa City Hall returned downtown to a 1990 building on 110 Laurier Avenue West,
370-606: A broad Indigenous people who are closely related to the Odawa and Ojibwe peoples. This period ended with the arrival of settlers and colonization of North America by Europeans during and after the 15th century. In 1610, Étienne Brûlé became the first documented European to navigate the Ottawa River , passing what would become Ottawa on his way to the Great Lakes . Three years later, Samuel de Champlain wrote about
444-414: A census division corresponds to a single unit of the appropriate type listed above. However, in a few cases, Statistics Canada groups two or more units into a single statistical division: In almost all such cases, the division in question was formerly a single unit of the standard type, which was divided into multiple units by its province after the 2001 Canadian census . A census consolidated subdivision
518-503: A crucial role in shaping the development of the city. Around the main urban area is an extensive greenbelt , administered by the NCC for conservation and leisure, and comprising mostly forest, farmland and marshland. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Ottawa had a population of 1,017,449 living in 407,252 of its 427,113 total private dwellings, a change of 8.9% from its 2016 population of 934,243 . With
592-697: A day below freezing at night every other year, conversely a day surpassing 30 °C Annual rainfall averages around 750mm per year, total precipitation 938mm 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 1 cm of precipitation, with December through April seeing on average 1–2 days. May through November have, on average, over 8 cm of rainfall per month, with peaks of approximately 9 cm in June and September. December through April have less than 8 cm, with February being
666-678: A diesel-powered light rail transit (LRT) line was introduced on an experimental basis. Known today as the Trillium Line , it was dubbed the O-Train and connected downtown Ottawa to the southern suburbs via Carleton University . The decision to extend the O-Train, and to replace it with an electric light rail system, was a major issue in the 2006 municipal elections , where Chiarelli was defeated by businessman Larry O'Brien . After O'Brien's election, transit plans were changed to establish
740-424: A former census subdivision, a former urban area, or a former designated place. It may also refer to neighbourhoods, post offices, communities and unincorporated places among other entities. Statistics Canada also aggregates data by federal electoral districts , one purpose for which is the redrawing of district boundaries every ten years. Federal electoral districts are numerically indexed; each district receives
814-517: A large expansion effective 1 January 2001, when the province of Ontario amalgamated all the constituent municipalities of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton into a single city. Regional Chair Bob Chiarelli was elected as the new city's first mayor in the 2000 municipal election , defeating Gloucester mayor Claudette Cain. The city's growth led to strains on the public transit system and road bridges. On 15 October 2001,
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#1732798180092888-534: A legislative solution to the location of the capital. The governor-general of the province had designated Kingston as the capital in 1841. However, the major population centres of Toronto and Montreal , as well as the former capital of Lower Canada, Quebec City , all had legislators dissatisfied with Kingston. Anglophone merchants in Quebec were the leading group supportive of the Kingston arrangement. In 1842,
962-495: A population between 400 and 700 people. A "census metropolitan area" (CMA) is a grouping of census subdivisions comprising a large urban area (the "urban core") and those surrounding "urban fringes" with which it is closely integrated. To become a CMA, an area must register an urban core population of at least 100,000 at the previous census. CMA status is retained even if this core population later drops below 100,000. CMAs may cross census division and provincial boundaries, although
1036-569: A series of light rail stations from the east side of the city into downtown, and for using a tunnel through the downtown core. Jim Watson , the last mayor of Ottawa before amalgamation, was re-elected in the 2010 election . In October 2012, the City Council approved the final Lansdowne Park plan, an agreement with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group that saw a new stadium, increased green space and housing and retail added to
1110-477: A single CSA were such an approach utilized. Statistics Canada has described the Greater Golden Horseshoe as the country's largest urban area . A "census agglomeration" (CA) is a smaller version of a CMA in which the urban core population at the previous census was greater than 10,000 but less than 100,000. If the population of an urban core is less than 50,000, it is the starting point for
1184-569: A unique five-digit code, with the first two digits being the Standard Geographical Classification code for the province or territory in which the district is located. Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada . It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario , at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River . Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec , and forms
1258-467: A vote rejected Kingston as the capital, and study of potential candidates included the then-named Bytown, but that option proved less popular than Toronto or Montreal. 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. In 1844,
1332-591: Is 26.7 °C (80 °F). The average January minimum temperature is −14.0 °C (6.8 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Ottawa was 37.8 °C (100 °F) on 4 July 1913, 1 August 1917 and 11 August 1944. Summers are generally warm and humid in Ottawa. On average, there are 11 days across the three summer months of June, July and August that have temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F). Periods of hotter weather are normally accompanied by high humidity levels Snow and ice are dominant during
1406-697: Is a geographic unit between census division and census subdivision. It is a combination of adjacent census subdivisions typically consisting of larger, more rural census subdivisions and smaller, more densely populated census subdivisions. Census subdivisions generally correspond to the municipalities of Canada, as determined by provincial and territorial legislation. They can also correspond to area which are deemed to be equivalents to municipalities for statistical reporting purposes, such as Indian reserves , Indian settlements , and unorganized territories where municipal level government may not exist. Statistics Canada has created census subdivisions in cooperation with
1480-622: Is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River and contains the mouths of the Rideau River and Rideau Canal . The Rideau Canal (Rideau Waterway) first opened in 1832 and is 202 km (126 mi) long. 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 the Cataraqui and Rideau rivers and various small lakes along
1554-421: Is usually a small community that does not meet the criteria used to define incorporated municipalities or urban areas (areas with a population of at least 1,000 and no fewer than 400 persons per square kilometre), but for which Statistics Canada or a provincial government has requested that similar demographic data be compiled. A " locality " (LOC) is a historical named location or place. The named location may be
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#17327981800921628-748: The Grand Trunk Railway opened both the Château Laurier hotel and its neighbouring downtown Union Station . On 3 February 1916, the Centre Block of the Parliament buildings was destroyed by a fire . The House of Commons and Senate was temporarily relocated to the recently constructed Victoria Memorial Museum, now the Canadian Museum of Nature until the completion of the new Centre Block in 1922. The centrepiece of
1702-703: The National Arts Centre , the National Gallery of Canada ; and numerous national museums , monuments, and historic sites. It is one of the most visited cities in Canada, with over 11 million visitors annually contributing more than $ 2.2B to the city's economy. The city name Ottawa was chosen in 1855 in reference to the Ottawa River , whose name is itself derived from the Algonquin adawe , meaning "to trade." In modern Algonquin,
1776-601: The Ottawa - Gatineau metropolitan area in Ontario and Quebec is the only one that currently crosses a provincial border. The methodology used by Statistics Canada does not allow for CMA-CMA mergers into larger statistical areas; consequently, there is no Canadian equivalent to the combined statistical areas of the United States. Statistics Canada has stated that Toronto , Oshawa and Hamilton could be merged into
1850-594: The Parliament of Canada , the Supreme Court , the residence of Canada's viceroy , and Office of the Prime Minister . Founded in 1826 as Bytown , and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, its original boundaries were expanded through numerous annexations and were ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and amalgamation in 2001. The municipal government of Ottawa is established and governed by
1924-605: The Queen 's acceptance of a parliamentary vote moved the capital to Montreal. In 1849, after violence in Montreal , a series of votes was held, with Kingston and Bytown again considered potential capitals. However, the successful 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. Logistical difficulties made this an unpopular arrangement, and although an 1856 vote passed for
1998-614: The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry ; and on the north by the Regional County Municipality of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais and the City of Gatineau. The main suburban areas extend a considerable distance to the east, west and south of the inner-city. These areas also include the former cities of Cumberland, Gloucester, Kanata and Nepean. The towns of Stittsville and Richmond within
2072-462: The War of 1812 . Colonel By set up military barracks on the site of today's Parliament 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 its Upper Canada and Lower Canada namesakes, historically, "Upper Town" was predominantly English-speaking and Protestant, whereas "Lower Town"
2146-644: The census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census . These areas exist solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government of their own. They exist on four levels: the top-level (first-level) divisions are Canada's provinces and territories ; these are divided into second-level census divisions , which in turn are divided into third-level census subdivisions (often corresponding to municipalities ) and fourth-level dissemination areas . In some provinces, census divisions correspond to
2220-418: The ethnic enclaves of Chinatown and Little Italy . Modern Ottawa is made up of eleven historic townships, ten of which are from the former Carleton County and one from the former Russell County . Ottawa city limits are bounded on the east by the United Counties of Prescott and Russell ; by Renfrew County and Lanark County in the west; on the south by the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and
2294-712: The 1850s, entrepreneurs known as lumber barons began to build large sawmills, which became some of the largest mills in the world. Rail lines built in 1854 connected Ottawa to areas south and, from 1886 to the transcontinental rail network via Hull and Lachute , Quebec. By 1885 Ottawa was the only city in Canada whose downtown street-lights were powered entirely by electricity. 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 at Chaudière Falls . Public transportation began in 1870 with
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2368-422: The 2011 census, urban area was renamed "population centre". In 2011, Statistics Canada identified 942 population centres in Canada. Some population centres cross municipal boundaries and not all municipalities contain a population centre while others have more than one. The population centre level of geography is further divided into the following three groupings based on population: A "designated place" (DPL)
2442-520: The 82 kilometres (50 miles) to Prescott on the Saint Lawrence River and beyond. Ottawa's small size was also thought to be less prone to politically motivated mob violence, as had happened in the previous Canadian capitals . Finally, the government already owned the land that eventually became Parliament Hill , which it thought would be an ideal location for the Parliament buildings. The original Parliament buildings, which included
2516-586: The Centre, East and West Blocks, were constructed between 1859 and 1866 in the Gothic Revival style . At the time, this was the largest North American construction project ever attempted and Public 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. The Library of Parliament and Parliament Hill landscaping were completed in 1876. Starting in
2590-582: The City of Ottawa Act of the Government of Ontario . It has an elected city council across 24 wards and a mayor elected city-wide. Ottawa has the highest proportion of university-educated residents among Canadian cities and is home to several colleges and universities, research and cultural institutions, including the University of Ottawa , Carleton University , Algonquin College , Collège La Cité ,
2664-632: The Marconi Towers Station is now used to house a museum, the Marconi National Historic Site . 46°12′59.99″N 59°57′17.57″W / 46.2166639°N 59.9548806°W / 46.2166639; -59.9548806 ( Table Head, Nova Scotia ) This Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Census geographic units of Canada The census geographic units of Canada are
2738-732: The National Capital Region, to make it more aesthetically pleasing and a location more befitting for Canada's political centre. Greber's plan included the creation of the National Capital Greenbelt , the Kichi Zibi Mikan and the Queensway highway system. His plan also called for changes in institutions such as moving downtown Union Station (now the Senate of Canada Building ) to the suburbs,
2812-530: The Parliament Buildings' gothic revival architecture. Ottawa's domestic architecture contains single-family homes, but also includes smaller numbers of semi-detached houses, rowhouses , and apartment buildings . 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
2886-410: The bustling commercial and cultural areas of Old Ottawa South, Centretown , Lower Town , and Sandy Hill , the affluent tree-lined neighbourhoods of The Glebe , Westboro , and New Edinburgh , and the historically blue-collar communities of Hintonburg , Mechanicsville , Carlington , and LeBreton Flats , with a mixture of housing types, artist lofts, and industrial uses. The old city also includes
2960-471: The canal and the rivers. Across the canal to the west lie both Centretown and Downtown Ottawa , which share a border along Gloucester Street. These core neighbourhoods contain streets such as Elgin and Bank , which fill the role of commercial main streets in the region. Centretown is next to downtown, which includes a substantial economic and architectural government presence across multiple branches of government. The legislature 's work takes place in
3034-618: The city is known as Odàwàg . The Ottawa Valley became habitable around 10,000 years ago, following the natural draining of the Champlain Sea . Archaeological findings of arrowheads, tools and pottery indicate that Indigenous populations first settled in the area about 6,500 years ago. These findings suggest that these Algonquin 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. The Algonquins are
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3108-778: The city of Gatineau , itself the result of amalgamation of the former Quebec cities of Hull and Aylmer . Although formally and administratively separate cities in two different provinces, Ottawa and Gatineau (along with several nearby municipalities) collectively constitute the National Capital Region , which is considered a single metropolitan area. One federal Crown corporation , the National Capital Commission, or NCC, has significant land holdings in both cities, including sites of historical and touristic importance. The NCC, through its responsibility for planning and development of these lands, has
3182-429: The construction of a 'census agglomeration'. CMAs and CAs with a population greater than 50,000 are subdivided into census tracts which have populations ranging from 2,500 to 8,000. A population centre (PC), formerly known as an urban area (UA), is any grouping of contiguous dissemination areas that has a minimum population of 1,000 and an average population density of 400 persons per square kilometre or greater. For
3256-575: The core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2021, Ottawa had a city population of 1,017,449 and a metropolitan population of 1,488,307, making it the fourth-largest city and fourth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Ottawa is the political centre of Canada and the headquarters of the federal government. The city houses numerous foreign embassies , key buildings, organizations, and institutions of Canada's government ; these include
3330-505: The driest month at an average of 5 cm of precipitation. Ottawa experiences about 2,080 hours of average sunshine annually (45% of possible). Predominate wind direction in Ottawa is from the West , Easterly air flow is more common during periods of wet weather as well as localized river/lake-effect cells on summer afternoons. Windspeed is on average higher during the winter, with northerly winds predominating during cold waves. Ottawa
3404-406: The federally defined National Capital Region but outside the city of Ottawa municipal boundaries; these include communities of Almonte , Carleton Place , Embrun , Kemptville , Rockland , and Russell . Influenced by government structures, much of the city's architecture tends to be formal and functional ; the city is also marked by Romantic and Picturesque styles of architecture such as
3478-613: 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. The selection of Ottawa as the capital of Canada predates the Confederation of Canada. The choice was contentious and not straightforward, with the parliament of the United Province of Canada holding more than 200 votes over several decades to attempt to settle on
3552-672: The first session of Parliament held in the new buildings in 1866. The buildings were generally well received by legislators. Ottawa was chosen as the capital for two primary reasons. 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. Second, Ottawa was approximately midway between Toronto and Kingston (in Canada West ) and Montreal and Quebec City (in Canada East ), making
3626-622: The former Goulbourn Township are to the southwest. Nepean as a suburb also includes Barrhaven . The communities of Manotick and Riverside South are on the other side of the Rideau River, and Greely , southeast of Riverside South. A number of rural communities (villages and hamlets ) are administratively part of the Ottawa municipality. Some of these communities are Burritts Rapids ; Ashton ; Fallowfield ; Kars ; Fitzroy Harbour ; Munster ; Carp ; North Gower ; Metcalfe ; Constance Bay and Osgoode . Several towns are within
3700-487: The former city of Vanier , a densely populated, historically francophone, working class enclave, and the former village of Rockcliffe Park , a wealthy residential neighbourhood adjacent to the Prime Minister's official residence at 24 Sussex and the Governor General's residence. The old city includes the downtown core and older neighbourhoods to the east, west, and south. These vibrant neighbourhoods include
3774-494: The home of the now-defunct Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton . This new location was close to Ottawa's first (1849–1877) and second (1877–1931) City Halls. This new city hall complex also contained an adjacent 19th-century restored heritage building formerly known as the Ottawa Normal School . From the 1960s to the 1980s, there was a large increase in construction in the National Capital Region, which
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#17327981800923848-477: The lower house of parliament to relocate permanently to Quebec City, the upper house refused to approve funding. 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 general Edmund Head , who, after reviewing proposals from various cities, selected
3922-570: The new Parliament Buildings is a dominant Gothic Revival-styled structure known as the Peace Tower . The location of what is now Confederation 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 the City Beautiful Movement . It became
3996-493: The parliamentary precinct, which includes buildings on Parliament Hill and others downtown, such as the Senate of Canada Building . Important buildings in the executive branch include the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council as well as many civil service buildings. The Supreme Court of Canada building can also be found in this area. Across the Ottawa River, which forms the border between Ontario and Quebec , lies
4070-492: The province's second-level administrative divisions such as a county or another similar unit of political organization. In the prairie provinces , census divisions do not correspond to the province's administrative divisions, but rather group multiple administrative divisions together. In Newfoundland and Labrador , the boundaries are chosen arbitrarily as no such level of government exists. Two of Canada's three territories are also divided into census divisions. In most cases,
4144-446: The provinces of British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia as equivalents for municipalities. The Indian reserve and Indian settlement census subdivisions are determined according to criteria established by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada . Dissemination areas are the smallest standard geographic unit in Canada and cover the entire country. As small areas, they comprise one or more dissemination blocks and have
4218-469: 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. The relocation process began in 1865, with
4292-629: 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. In 1958, the National Capital Commission was established as a Crown Corporation through the National Capital Act. The commission's original mission
4366-621: The renovation of the Senate Building . 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. Ottawa has a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb ) with four distinct seasons and is between Zones 5a and 5b on the Canadian Plant Hardiness Scale. The average July maximum temperature
4440-531: The selection an important political compromise. Other minor considerations included that despite Ottawa's regional isolation, there was water transportation access from spring to fall, both to Montreal via the Ottawa River, and to Kingston via the Rideau Waterway . Additionally, by 1854 it also had a modern all-season railway (the Bytown and Prescott Railway ) that carried passengers, lumber and supplies
4514-739: The site of the National War Memorial in 1939 and was designated a National Historic Site in 1984. A new Central Post Office (now the Privy 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. Ottawa's former industrial appearance was vastly altered by the 1950 Greber Plan . Prime Minister Mackenzie King hired French architect-planner Jacques Greber to design an urban plan for managing development in
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#17327981800924588-510: The site. In December 2012, City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the Confederation Line , a 12.5 km (7.8 mi) light rail transit line, which was opened on 14 September 2019. The present-day city of Ottawa consists of the historic main urban area , as well as other urban, suburban and rural areas within the city's post-amalgamation limits. Old Ottawa refers to the former pre-amalgamation city, as well as
4662-679: The time they were built. The skyline 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. Today, several buildings are slightly taller than the Peace Tower, with the tallest being the Claridge Icon at 143 metres (469 ft). Many federal buildings in the National Capital Region are managed by Public Works Canada , which leads to heritage conservation in its renovations and management of buildings, such as
4736-470: The town was named after British military engineer Colonel John By who was responsible for the entire Rideau Waterway construction project. The Rideau canal provided a secure route between Montreal and Kingston 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
4810-538: The waterfalls in the area and about his encounters with the Algonquin people. The first non-Indigenous settlement in the area was created by Philemon Wright , a New 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 in Hull . He, with five other families and twenty-five labourers , also created an agricultural community, which
4884-434: The waterway due to flooding techniques and the construction of 47 water transport locks. Ottawa is situated in a lowland on top of Paleozoic carbonate and shale and is surrounded by more craggy Precambrian igneous and metamorphic formations. Ottawa has had fluvial deposition of till and sands, leading to the widespread formation of eskers . There are limited distinct features arising from glacial deposits, but Ottawa
4958-513: The widespread wooden buildings. In Ottawa, it destroyed about one-fifth of the buildings from the Lebreton Flats south to Booth Street and down to Dow's Lake . 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). An estimated 14% of Ottawans were left homeless. On 1 June 1912,
5032-498: The winter season. On average, almost every day of January, February and March has more than 5 cm of snowpack (29, 28, and 22 days, respectively), and on average, approximately 12 days a year see 5 cm or more of snowfall, with 4 of those having over 10 cm. An average of 17 days of the year experience temperatures below −20 °C (−4 °F). Spring and fall are variable, prone to extreme changes in temperature and conditions. The month of May, for example, on average gets
5106-454: 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 and National Arts Centre ). On 29 June 2007, the Rideau Canal was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The older part of the city (including what remains of Bytown) is known as Lower Town , and occupies an area between
5180-405: Was affected by the Late 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. Ottawa is located within the Western Quebec Seismic Zone , and while relatively inactive, the city does occasionally experience earthquakes. During part of the winter season the Ottawa section of the canal forms
5254-538: Was followed by large growth in the high-tech industry during the 1990s and 2000s. Ottawa became one of Canada's largest high-tech cities and was nicknamed Silicon Valley North. By the 1980s, Bell Northern Research (later Nortel ) employed thousands, and large federally assisted research facilities such as the National Research Council contributed to an eventual technology boom. The early companies led to newer firms such as Newbridge Networks , Mitel and Corel . In 1991, provincial and federal governments responded to
5328-455: Was mostly French, Irish and Catholic. Bytown's population grew to 1,000 as the Rideau Canal was completed in 1832. Bytown's early pioneer period saw Irish labour unrest during the Shiners' War from 1835 to 1845 and political dissension that was evident in the 1849 Stony Monday Riot . In 1855, Bytown was renamed Ottawa and incorporated as a city. William Pittman Lett was installed as
5402-581: Was named Wright's Town . Wright pioneered the Ottawa Valley timber trade (soon to be the area's most significant economic activity) by transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Quebec City . In 1826, news of the British military's impending construction of the Rideau Canal led to land speculators founding a community on the south side of the Ottawa River. The following year,
5476-700: Was to implement the Greber Plan recommendations conducted during the 1960s and 1970s. This marked the creation of a permanent political infrastructure for managing the capital 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
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