Established as Town of Bytown
Area: 2,778.64 km²
Population: 859,704

  • Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, who’d spent the war years in Canada, arranged for an annual bulb presentation to celebrate the birth of her daughter, Princess Margriet, in Ottawa in 1943. To ensure that the princess was born a Dutch citizen, the Canadian government proclaimed her room in the Ottawa Civic Hospital part of the Netherlands.
  • Kings, Queens and presidents stay at Rideau Hall when they visit Canada’s Capital. If you visit, you’ll be walking in the footsteps of leaders like King Hussein of Jordan, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and President Clinton of the United States.
  • The grounds feature more than 80 trees planted by visiting foreign leaders as well as distinctly Canadian points of interest like an Inuksuk.
  • Canada’s best-known sports trophies – the Stanley Cup for hockey and the Grey Cup for football were donated by previous Governors General.