Ottawa Need To Know

Ottawa need to know is a page designed to help the first time visitor to Ottawa, and perhaps to Canada.

On this page I will provide information and contacts about our ways of driving, health, immigration issues, and anything else I can think of that you might, in Ottawa ; need to know.

If you need help with something that isn't covered here, I will try to comply. Send in your request via the Ottawa Ask page.

Where Is Ottawa?

Details

The Ottawa details information is courtesy of Wikipedia: "The National Capital Region is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and the surrounding area.

The National Capital Region consists of an area of 5,319 square kilometres that straddles the boundary between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The area of the National Capital Region is very similar to that of the Ottawa-Gatineau Census Metropolitan Area, although the National Capital Region contains a number of small neighbouring communities that are not contained within the CMA.

When all the communities are added, the population is 1,451,415.

Ottawa-Gatineau is the only CMA in the nation to fall within two provinces.

Parts of the National Capital Region are recognized as bilingual regions for language-of-work purposes. "

Languages

Ottawa welcomes you in our two official languages - English and French. Yet you will hear almost every other major language spoken somewhere in the Ottawa area.

As the nation's capital, Ottawa hosts embassies from around the world. Every embassy from a non-English speaking country, brings another language into the Ottawa language mix.

Ottawa boasts a "little Italy" and a "Chinatown" where the sign posts and the rich cultural heritage flavours the shops, and the languages spoken.

Driving

If you’re planning on driving in and around the Ottawa area, drivers are, for the most part, courteous and skilled.

Vehicles in Canada travel on the right side of the road!

By and large, you can walk, drive, and use the hugely efficient and fun public transit to go almost anywhere in Ottawa, at almost any time of day or night, with confidence.

Passports

Know that a valid passport is preferred entry document from some countries, and is the required document for entry into Canada from others. Persons visiting from certain countries also may require a visitor visa as well.

Please check the requirements that apply to you with your travel agent or the Canadian embassy or Canadian consulate in your country.

More information can be also obtained at Citizenship and Immigration Canada .

Ottawa Rivers

A couple of major rivers - the Rideau and the Ottawa - flow through and form the boundary of parts of Ottawa.

Just east of the Parliament buildings the Ottawa River is joinedby the Gatineau River. As a boy, I can remember staying at a cottage a few miles up the Gatineau, and boating out to the huge rafts of logs drifting down the Gatineau to the sawmills of Gatineau and Ottawa.

The Ottawa River then carries on past Ottawa, drifting lazily south east, until it marries up with the world famous St. Lawrence river, about 150 km (90 miles) downstream.

More about Ottawa Need To Know right here.