Canada's capital is known for its rich, British inspired architecture as seen in its Parliament buildings, and it's national museums.
With Canada being a member of the G8, the group of the world's most industrialized democracies, Ottawa is in good company as a G8 capital city along with Washington DC, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo and Rome.
With humble beginnings as a small lumber town, Ottawa evolved into the political centre we see today. Known primarily as a government town, Ottawa is on the verge of another transformation- metropolis. With a population of 900,000 in 2010, an ever growing technology sector, and large infrastructure projects in the works, Ottawa is in the midst of a growth spurt and is becoming more of a player in Canada outside of the political arena.
Whether you are looking for a great place to study, do business or play, Ottawa has it all!
Quick Facts:
- A population of over 1.2 million makes the Ottawa region the fourth-largest urban area in Canada
- Ottawa is home to such high tech giants as Nortel Networks, Alcatel, Cognos, Tundra, Cisco, MDS Nordion and Entrust
- Our technology companies are complemented by Dell, MBNA Canada, ING Direct, Clarica and MD Management
- Ottawa is also the home of government organizations such as the Government of Canada, Parliament, the Senate, and the Supreme Court of Canada
- More than 1,800 advanced technology companies employ more than 76,000 people
- With the highest-educated workforce in Canada, Ottawa has more engineers, scientists and PhDs per capita than any other city in the country
- $3.7 billion CDN in venture capital was invested in Ottawa technology companies from 2000 to 2005
- With 90 per cent of Canada’s industrial telecommunications research and development conducted here, Ottawa is one of the world's top five sites for R&D
- Canada's Capital region welcomes over 7.3 million visitors per year, who spend over $1.18 billion
- According to Statistics Canada, families in Ottawa had the highest median incomes of any Canadian city in 2001
- Mercer Human Resources International recently placed Ottawa 18th in a survey of 200 cities worldwide for best quality of life. Another study by Mercer found that Ottawa is the least expensive major city in which to live in North America.
- Languages spoken include English (50%), French (32%) and a host of other languages including significant capabilities in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic
