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Ottawa

Lumber town turned capital

Ottawa in brief

Ottawa grew where the Ottawa River meets the Rideau and Gatineau, on a valley Indigenous nations used for millennia after the Champlain Sea drained away. Bytown began as a rough lumber and canal town around Colonel By’s Rideau Canal works; Queen Victoria later picked it as capital, and the name became Ottawa.

Parliament’s gothic spires still surprise people who expect only government grey. Skate the canal in a cold snap and you will understand why locals brag about winter.

The icons below open local open data for Ottawa.

Drawn from Wikipedia.

Permits, tax, radon & more for Ottawa

Open the live numbers for Ottawa. Each link goes to the original topic page for this city.

PermitsBuilding permits for OttawaTaxProperty tax for OttawaInternetInternet for OttawaRadonRadon for OttawaHazardsHazards for OttawaWaterWater quality for Ottawa

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When Ottawa moves in a ranking, posts new permit figures, or lands in a study, get a short note. A few sends a year, only when something changes.

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#21
City Score rank
80%
City Score
6
Owned lists in score

City Score over time

The green line averages OpenStats-owned rankings (radon, permit value, mill rates). Grey dots mark every published placement across all studies below.

0%25%50%75%100%20132014201520162017201820192023202420252026
OpenStats City ScoreIndividual published rankings

Rankings for Ottawa

Each study below is its own ranking. Where a study has more than one edition for this city, the chart shows standing across those years only.

Composite · OpenStats

OpenStats City Score

OpenStats

Average standing across OpenStats-owned rankings built from public data (currently radon, building permit value, and residential mill rates). Each placement is scored from 0–1 within its edition, then averaged. External livability lists stay on hometown pages as separate published appearances.

Single edition · 2026

#21
Published · 2026 · of 125
Score 0.804

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Health · OpenStats

OpenStats Highest Indoor Radon

OpenStats

Communities ranked by Health Canada survey mean indoor radon (Bq/m³). Rank 1 is the highest mean.

Single edition · 2026

#57
Published · 2026 · of 117
Score 111.7

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Property tax · OpenStats

OpenStats Residential Mill Rates

OpenStats

Municipalities ranked by residential mill rate. Rank 1 is the highest published rate (higher tax burden).

Single edition · 2024

#40
Published · 2024 · of 43
Score 7.29

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Housing

CMHC Average 2-Bedroom Rent — Lowest Rent

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Average rent for purpose-built 2-bedroom apartments (all tenants) from CMHC Rental Market Survey. Rank 1 = lowest average rent among covered CMAs.

Single edition · 2025

#15
Published · 2025 · of 18
Score 1926

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Housing

CMHC Purpose-Built Rental Vacancy — Highest Vacancy

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Purpose-built rental apartment vacancy rate from CMHC Rental Market Survey (October). Rank 1 = highest vacancy (most available rental stock among covered CMAs).

Single edition · 2025

#13
Published · 2025 · of 18
Score 3

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Livability

Globe and Mail Most Livable Cities

The Globe and Mail

2023 data partnership with Environics Analytics ranking 439 Canadian communities on ten livability categories.

Single edition · 2023

#24
Published · 2023 · of 439

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Livability

Maclean's Best Communities

Maclean's

Successor-style municipal livability ranking published by Maclean's for 2019 and 2021 (no 2020 edition).

Single edition · 2019

#3
Published · 2019 · of 415

Only one published edition places Ottawa in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Worth knowing in Ottawa

Distinctive local notes and places, each linked to its source.

  • It is located in the southeastern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River.

    Wikipedia

  • Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR).

    Wikipedia

  • The Diefenbunker, a Cold War emergency government headquarters buried near Carp, later doubled as a movie set for films including The Sum of All Fears.

    Atlas Obscura

  • Château Laurier opened weeks after its railway-magnate champion died on the Titanic, leaving the hotel's grand debut without its mastermind.

    Atlas Obscura

Places to see

The Diefenbunker

Canada's subterranean Cold War museum, built as a nuclear-attack refuge for the federal government.

Maman

Louise Bourgeois's 30-foot steel spider sculpture stands outside the National Gallery of Canada.

Ottawa Jail Hostel

A Hostelling International lodge inside a former jail notorious for overcrowding and a public hanging that drew thousands.

Related guides

Indoor radonBuilding permitsMill ratesNatural hazardsBroadbandWater hardnessConstruction PulseStudies

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