Moving to Ottawa?

Moving to Canada’s capital city is an exciting endeavour! Ottawa is filled with amazing tourist attractions, plenty of amazing job opportunities, hiking trails and camping options, fun nightlife, and more. 

Let’s dive into some of the amazing, and less so, parts of living in Ottawa - and what it will be like to move here. 

Job Opportunities

Ottawa has an amazing set of job opportunities that offer stable and reliable employment. Government jobs are well known for being calm in pace, offering a great pension, and rarely let anyone go from their positions. They are also known for good pay. Because the government is such a large organization, there are positions in all types of fields, from finance to marketing and everything in between. 

Outdoor Spaces

Ottawa, despite being a large concrete city, has lots of green space accessible to its residents! First and foremost, the space all along the Rideau River is gorgeous for biking and walking in the summer, and becomes a skating rink in the winter that many people actually use to get to work faster! Just 40 minutes from the downtown core is Gatineau Park in Quebec, an amazing provincial park filled with hiking trails and camping for all levels of ability, and plenty of protected lakes with gorgeous views to match. There is a massive assortment of parks throughout the city, and Ottawa is essentially surrounded by farmland on either side of it. A short drive to Carp, Almonte, and beyond will open up even more space to spend time outdoors and enjoy the sounds of nature. 

Museums

Ottawa is one of the best cities for visiting museums! Check out the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Canadian War Museum, the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, and two outstanding art galleries.

Crime Rate

Ottawa actually has a lower crime rate than the average in Canada, and in Ontario! 

Traffic

Although Ottawa is a big city, it has significantly less traffic than other large cities in Canada. 

Transit

Ottawa now hosts the O-Train, an LRT system that helps commuters get around the city on a quick light rail system. The LRT is fairly consistent but has had issues in the past with large storms and major snowfall. There is also a robust bus system in the area that is fairly consistent as well. 

Housing Prices 

Prices for homes in Ottawa are lower than in other major cities like Toronto and Vancouver. It is more expensive here than in smaller towns and rural areas, but for a large city with so much access to its residents, the pricing is fairly reasonable. 

Festivals and Events

Ottawa hosts a vast number of festivals and events throughout the year - including the winter! Some of the cool events on offer include music festivals, skating, art festivals, street festivals, and more. 

Some of the ‘downsides’ of living in Ottawa

Boring

A lot of people in Ottawa say that the city is boring. We don’t think that’s true, but it takes some work to find the best things to do! Getting involved in local Facebook groups, with Ottawa influencers, and staying up to date with the news will help you experience all that Ottawa has to offer! 

Are you bilingual? 

Ottawa is a totally bilingual city. To work in government or at many public service jobs, you will have to have at least a basic understanding of French, if not more! You may also meet a lot more people here than in other cities in Canada that speak French as their first language. Because of this, it is definitely a bonus to know basic French before moving here. That being said, you will be able to receive service in English or French wherever you go!


If you’re interested in the different neighbourhoods in the city of Ottawa, check out our neighbourhood profiles on our website! 

If you want to know more about what happens on a week by week basis here, check out our weekly blog posts on “What is happening in Ottawa this week?”

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What’s happening in Ottawa July 4-10?

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What’s Happening in Ottawa June 27 - July 3?