- Welcome
- Books
- Databases
- Archives & Primary Sources
- Data & Statistics
- Government Information
- Laws & Legislation
- Maps & GIS
- Media
- Websites
Welcome
We have a rich collection of resources for the study of the City of Ottawa, its history, geography, economic conditions, and social and cultural life. For general sources of government statistics use the Government Statistics guide.
Books, journals, newspapers, government publications and atlases can be found in our catalogue. For maps and geospatial or numeric data, contact the Maps, Data and Government Information Centre.
Books
Recommended Books:
- The Queen's choice: a story of Canada's capital by Wilfrid Eggleston.
- Hand book to the parliamentary and departmental buildings, Canada (1867) on microfiche. (See also the full text scanned edition via Internet Archive)
Suggested Subject Headings:
Databases
Key Databases:
Archives & Primary Sources
Archives:
- City of Ottawa Archives (Tel: 613-580-2424, ext. 13333) Email: archives@ottawa.ca
The City Archives identifies, acquires, organizes, preserves, describes and makes publicly accessible civic government records and private sector records of individuals, community groups, and businesses. The holdings include textual and electronic records, rare books, historical publications, maps, plans, microfilms, films, photographs, postcards, documentary art, and corporate memorabilia. Corporate records include the records of the new City of Ottawa, as well as the 12 former municipalities, the Ottawa Public Library, Police Services and OCTranspo. The City Archives also collects private sector records that enhance our understanding of the history and evolution of Ottawa. Some examples from more than 350 collections include the Billings, Lett and Ogilvy family papers and records from the United Church of Canada and Royal Ottawa Sanitarium (now Royal Ottawa Hospital).
Data & Statistics
Data:
- City of Ottawa Open Data beta project
Statistics:
City of Ottawa
- Statistics links
- Annual Development Report provides yearly updates and analysis on demographic data, employment, housing, the office and industrial markets and the retail and tourism sectors, summarizes development activity in the city of Ottawa, and measures these, where applicable, against the City's Official Plan objectives. The Annual Development Report also evaluates Ottawa's competitive positioning vis-à-vis Canada's other major cities.
- Data handbook is an information tool providing current and historical statistics of the social and economic composition of the city of Ottawa.
- Ottawa Counts (fact sheets on specific aspects of Ottawa life based on census data)
- 2006 Census of Canada Ottawa statistics (for more statistics see also the Census (Population) guide)
- Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (University of Ottawa) has maps and profiles for all of the populated 97 Ottawa neighbourhoods that will be useful in helping to highlight health and planning needs and the policies to develop to address these.
- Ottawa Public Health statistics
- Ottawa Police Service Ottawa Crime Statistics has statistics by ward. NOTE: See also the Library's GIS collection for geospatial police data.
Other sources of statistics
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canadian housing market information and the annual Canadian housing statistics report which is updated monthly.
- Statistics Canada
- NOTE: Historical census data for the Ottawa area is found in the early Census of Canada reports. Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1871 (volume 4 of the 1871 Census) and historical Census of Canada information via ArchiviaNet
- Ontario Community profiles (via Invest in Ontario)
Government Information
Canada - Federal:
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has information about housing markets and neighbourhoods in Ottawa
- Canada - Ontario Business Service Centre has information about programs, services and regulations to Ontario businesses. Includes municipal information with links to all provinces outside Ontario.
- National Capital Commission (NCC) A Crown corporation of the Government of Canada created in 1959 as the steward of federal lands and buildings in the National Capital Region.
- Parliament, House of Commons Information about the Parliament Buildings and grounds
- Public Works and Government Services Canada
- Parliament Hill information about the buildings and history of the parliamentary precinct with an interactive map
- Public Works and Government Services Canada Property and Buildings information
- NOTE: See also information about the Parliamentary Precinct in the City of Ottawa Official Plan
- Planning Canada's Capital (historical planning documents via Queen's University) including:
- 1903 Preliminary report to the Ottawa Improvement Corporation
- 1915 Report of the Federal Plan Commission on a General Plan for the Cities of Ottawa and Hull (one of Canada’s first comprehensive plans)
- 1922 Federal District Plan for Ottawa
- 1950 Plan for the National Capital General Report (Greber report)
NOTE: The Library also has many of these reports and their accompanying maps in the Government Documents collection.
Canada - Provincial:
Ontario
- Champlain LHIN This local health integration network agency includes health and other socio-economic information for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario.
- Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Resources for Municipalities
- Information about the operation of the Municipal Act NOTE: for the text of the Act look under Laws & Legislation tab.
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment search for Ottawa under Environmental Assessment issues such as the LRT Project environmental assessment reports
- Ontario Ministry of Transportation search for Ottawa area roads and highway information
Local:
- City of Ottawa web portal links to all city services and agencies organized by client type. Be sure to look under each category for relevant links.
- Latest information can be found in Media Advisories, News Releases and Public Statements
- Budget and Consolidated financial statements and Auditor General reports
- Planning information including Official Plan links with current updates to the plan
- Ottawa 20/20 official planning documents and maps. (NOTE: To find earlier Ottawa planning reports do a Keyword search in the llibrary catalogue under 'Ottawa' and ”Official plan*”)
- Links to the Master Plans associated with Ottawa 20/20 planning
- Community Development Framework (CDF) on neighbourhood development planning
- City of Ottawa Zoning By-law
- Directions on how to find a zoning for a site using the zoning by-law
- City of Ottawa Annual Report (2004- ) includes information about neighbourhoods. Updated by Quarterly Performance Reports to Council.
- City Council and Committee Agendas and Minutes and selected archived Agendas and Minutes from former RMOC municipalities. NOTE: Historical City Council Minutes are located at the City of Ottawa Archives.
- The new City of Ottawa: fulfilling its potential (Final report and recommendations of the Ottawa Transition Board)
- Elections and voter information
- OC Transpo
- Ottawa Public Health publishes an annual report and a health status report
- Ottawa Public Library
In addition to holdings at Carleton, there are City of Ottawa publications in the collection of the Main Library and its branches. These are listed in the Public Library's online catalogue. An important collection about Ottawa and its history is found at the Main Library's Ottawa Room.- The Ottawa Room
A collection housed within the Main Library of the Ottawa Public Library. The Ottawa Room exists to provide a centralized special collection of information and heritage on Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley, both past and present, plus a large collection of municipal documents. Holdings consist of books in English and French, local periodicals, maps, preservation microforms, community newspapers, and an extensive vertical file collection on various local subjects. See the Ottawa Citizen article about The Ottawa Room "Ottawa Room preserves city's heritage." NOTE: For other historical resources look under the 'Archives & Primary Sources' tab for a link to the City Archives.
- The Ottawa Room
- Business resources: BizPal is an online, one-stop service for entrepreneurs that simplifies the process of finding information on business permits and licences from all levels of government - federal, provincial, and municipal.
- Regional School Boards
Laws & Legislation
Canada - Federal:
Canada - Provincial:
- Ontario e-Laws search under Municipal Act for current provincial laws and regulations and under 'Ottawa' for other acts affecting the city.
- City of Ottawa Act (1999)
Ottawa By-Laws
- Selected current by-laws are available on the City of Ottawa web site. For further information about current by-laws or copies of the official by-laws contact the City at 613-580-2400 or by e-mail at bylawservices@ottawa.ca . The Carleton library has a small collection of historical by-laws; however, the most complete collection is found at the City of Ottawa Archives.
Maps & GIS
Maps:
- Printed sheet maps for the Ottawa area are found in two principal locations in the map collection: older maps are filed in 1226.3; more recent maps are filed under G3464.O8. Please ask at the MADGIC information desk for assistance in locating sheet maps. The map collection has a selection of air photos of the Ottawa area. For more comprehensive coverage by date and area see the National Air Photo Library.
- Also look for maps of the Ottawa area by using the Library's Custom Google search engine for online maps.
- City of Ottawa e-Map provides map layers for the city including roads, water, transportation and transit, boundaries, zoning and recent air photos. There is an e-Map light version but full functionality requires the downloadable Autodesk MapGuide viewer.
- Electoral maps by federal riding (Elections Canada) and Ontario electoral district maps (Elections Ontario)
- Fire insurance plans Ottawa (Library and Archives Canada)
- Illustrated historical atlas of the county of Carleton (including City of Ottawa) (MPF G1148.C3B4 1879B). McGill University's Canadian County Atlas Digital Project database is searchable by county, township and name with a map locator and image of atlas cover. It includes Carleton County.
- Library and Archives Canada Archiviatnet searchable database for historical maps, plans and charts. Search under keyword phrase "City of Ottawa" for best results.
- National Capital Air Quality Mapping Pilot Project to measure air quality for the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau between July 1, 2007 and July 31, 2009. Six major pollutants were measured – nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM2.5) in hourly intervals with a one kilometre resolution.
- Natural Resources Canada
- Atlas of Canada Toporama. Look for NTS sheet 31G (Ottawa area at 1:50 000)
- Atlas of Canada Archive of historical editions of the atlas from 1906 including city growth and election results.
- Ottawa Gatineau Watershed Atlas is a community-based water information hub. OGWA combines information from many different sources and paints a holistic picture of the 5 area subwatersheds.
- Ottawa Police Service Crime trends maps
- Ottawa ward maps with information about each ward
- Social Planning Council Community Information and Mapping System (CIMS)
GIS:
- Check also the library's GIS holdings for access to extensive detailed geospatial data and air photos of the Ottawa region.
Media
Images:
- Library and Archives Canada Canada by Design: Parliament Buildings
Websites
Listed here are non-governmental websites that have resources relating to Ottawa. Click on the 'Government information' tab for websites from official sources.
- Community Information Centre of Ottawa e-Blue Book searchable by organization name, keywords and subjects
- Community Foundation of Ottawa Ottawa's Vital Signs annually measures the city’s quality of life in 11 key areas. Note the archived reports (2006 - ) in the left navigation bar.
- Heritage Ottawa Their mandate is twofold: to advocate on behalf of the preservation of heritage buildings and historic landscapes and to educate and inform residents and visitors to Ottawa on the benefits of preserving the city's heritage from the perspectives of history, architecture, quality of life and tourism. Includes reports and articles on heritage structures in the Ottawa region.
- Ottawa's heritage resources
- Other heritage links (Ottawa and other Canadian cities)
- Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) Ottawa Facts includes information about the population, economy, quality of life, education and infrastructure of the region.
- Ottawa Real Estate Board has information about the local housing market, neighbourhoods and housing pricesand links to municipalities in the Ottawa region.
- Ottawa Tourism has information about social life
- Social Planning Council Community economic and social development information
- Ottawa Yellow Pages searchable by business or personal name
613-520-2600 x8946
