Global CityIntelligence

Canada / North America

Ottawa City Intelligence

Ottawa is Canada's national-capital metro, with stable public-sector employment, bilingual workforce, and continental-cold climate framing used for cross-region Canadian comparison. Ottawa is a north america city of about ~1.5M metro in Canada. On the composite city-intelligence score, Ottawa sits comfortably above the indexed median (81/100).

Last updated
2026-05-16
Data year
2025
Population
~1.5M metro
View of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada

Parliament Hill

Image credit: Image: David Samuel, User:Hellodavey1902 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall score

Use the Ottawa profile to compare cost framing, mobility, and public-services signals alongside Toronto and Montreal.

Overall81/100
Affordability72/100
Air quality80/100
Energy76/100

Overall city intelligence

Strong

81/100

Composite directional score across affordability, air quality, clean energy, and resilience.

Data confidence

Directional

Directional indicators pending integration of verified city-level data.

Verified utility layers

See country hub

Emergency, healthcare, and transport verification status appears on the country hub.

Ottawa data table

The table is part of the initial server-rendered HTML and mirrors the key city score cards.

Ottawa city intelligence data table
MetricValueContext
Overall score81/100Composite score across major city intelligence modules.
Cost of Living72/100Ottawa's cost-of-living profile is a directional indicator pending integration of verified city-level data; structured benchmark context applies.
Air Quality80/100Ottawa's air-quality profile is a directional indicator framed against WHO and regional benchmarks; verified city-level measurements appear in the dedicated air-quality dataset section once integrated.
Energy76/100Ottawa's energy-readiness profile is a directional indicator that combines national policy framing with city-level adaptation context.
Safety79/100Ottawa's safety profile is a directional indicator; verified country-level emergency profiles attach via the country hub where available.
Internet Speed79/100Ottawa's connectivity profile is a directional indicator combining national digital-readiness context with widely cited speed-test references.
Climate Risk76/100Ottawa's climate-risk profile is a directional indicator combining regional hazard categories with national adaptation capacity.
Resilience76/100Climate adaptation and infrastructure continuity context.

Safety

Deterministic safety estimates from our index — planning signals derived from country priors and city data, not official crime statistics.

Safety

Overall safety78/100
Low crime81/100
Personal safety79/100
Night safety72/100
Road safety76/100

Ottawa is estimated to be a generally safe city (78/100 in our safety index), with solid personal-safety indicators.

Quality of Life

A composite quality-of-life estimate and its component indicators.

Quality of Life

Quality of life82/100
Healthcare86/100
Education89/100
Green space75/100
Cleanliness87/100
Infrastructure94/100
Mobility69/100

Ottawa has a very high quality-of-life estimate (82/100), with notable strengths in healthcare, green space, cleanliness and infrastructure.

Family Friendliness

How the city scores for raising a family, with the indicators that drive it.

Family Friendliness

Family friendliness81/100
Education89/100
Green space75/100
Overall safety78/100

Ottawa scores very high for family living (81/100), helped by education access, safety, parks and green space and healthcare.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Suitability for remote workers, based on connectivity, mobility, and livability.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Digital nomad suitability79/100
Walkability72/100
Cycling67/100
Infrastructure94/100

Ottawa is high for remote workers (79/100), based on connectivity, affordability, walkability, safety and overall livability and day-to-day amenities.

Retirement Suitability

Suitability for retirement, weighing healthcare, affordability, climate, and environment.

Retirement Suitability

Retirement suitability79/100
Healthcare86/100
Cleanliness87/100
Outdoor lifestyle43/100

Ottawa is high for retirement (79/100), appealing for healthcare access, affordability, a comfortable climate and a clean environment.

Emergency and public safety in Ottawa

Local public safety guidance for Ottawa, with the country-level emergency contacts that apply when calling for police, fire, or ambulance.

Verified
Canada emergency contacts
ServiceNumberNotes
Universal emergency91124/7911 reaches police, fire, and emergency medical dispatch in most regions of Canada.

For the universal emergency contacts that apply in Ottawa, including police, fire, and ambulance, see the Canada emergency profile.

Public safety sources

Each emergency contact above is attributed to an official emergency service or government publisher. Confirm current numbers directly with these sources.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Methodology and the wider source registry are documented on the scoring methodology and data sources pages.

Healthcare and hospitals in Ottawa

Healthcare context for Ottawa, with national-level information from Canada where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only and does not provide medical advice.

Verified

For the national healthcare and public-health context that applies in Ottawa, see the Canada healthcare profile.

Official hospital registry

Canadian Institute for Health Information

National source of comparable Canadian health-system data and analysis recognised by federal and provincial governments.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Healthcare sources

Each entry above is attributed to an official government, public health, or recognised health-system publisher. Confirm current information directly with these sources.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Related sections: emergency and public safety, scoring methodology, and data sources.

Transport and mobility in Ottawa

Local mobility context for Ottawa, with national-level context from Canada where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only.

Verified

For national transport authorities and operators that apply in Ottawa, see the Canada transport profile.

Transport sources

Each entry above is attributed to an official transport authority, national operator, airport publisher, or government source. Confirm current information directly with these publishers.

Last verified: 2026-05-16

Related sections: emergency and public safety, healthcare and hospitals, cities directory, countries directory, scoring methodology, data sources.

Air quality dataset

Source-attributed air-quality dataset for Ottawa. Verified measurements are surfaced when published from accepted official datasets; transparent fallback is shown otherwise.

Air quality dataset for Ottawa

Verified data unavailableLast updated 2026-05-16 / data year 2025

Verified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location

Source-attributed values for Ottawa will appear here after the platform integrates verified measurements from accepted official publishers. Until then, structured air-quality module context remains available on the dedicated module page.

Ottawa air-quality dataset coverage
MetricValueData yearStatus
Air qualityVerified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location.

Data provenance

Source attribution

  • Global City Intelligence — air-quality dataset

    Verified data unavailable
    Publisher
    Global City Intelligence
    Last verified
    2026-05-16

    The air-quality dataset begins empty by design. Verified city-level measurements appear here only after they are sourced from accepted publishers (WHO, EEA, US EPA, OpenAQ, OECD, or official national/city environmental agencies).

Explore Ottawa modules

City pages link to module and ranking pages so crawlers can move through the topic cluster naturally.

Cost of Living in Ottawa

Ottawa's cost-of-living profile is a directional indicator pending integration of verified city-level data; structured benchmark context applies.

Air Quality in Ottawa

Ottawa's air-quality profile is a directional indicator framed against WHO and regional benchmarks; verified city-level measurements appear in the dedicated air-quality dataset section once integrated.

Energy in Ottawa

Ottawa's energy-readiness profile is a directional indicator that combines national policy framing with city-level adaptation context.

Safety in Ottawa

Ottawa's safety profile is a directional indicator; verified country-level emergency profiles attach via the country hub where available.

Internet Speed in Ottawa

Ottawa's connectivity profile is a directional indicator combining national digital-readiness context with widely cited speed-test references.

Climate Risk in Ottawa

Ottawa's climate-risk profile is a directional indicator combining regional hazard categories with national adaptation capacity.

City rankings

Compare this city against other indexed cities in crawlable ranking tables.

Cost of living in Ottawa

Cost of living estimates for Ottawa — monthly budgets, rent, food, and transport in the local currency, plus an affordability score for comparison. Planning estimates derived from country baselines, not live prices.

Climate in Ottawa

Climate profile for Ottawa — Humid Continental climate, annual average 11.2°C, comfort score 71/100. Month-by-month temperatures, rainfall, sunshine, and the best months to visit. Deterministic planning estimates, not a forecast.

Economy and jobs in Ottawa

Economy and jobs profile for Ottawa — government center, economy score 83/100, key industries including government, aerospace, technology. Employment, salary, startup, remote-work, and career indicators. Deterministic planning estimates.

Universities and education in Ottawa

Education profile for Ottawa — major university city, education score 79/100, 9 representative universities, plus research, student life, and international-student indicators. Deterministic dataset, not institutional rankings.

Healthcare and retirement in Ottawa

Healthcare and retirement profile for Ottawa — major healthcare center, healthcare score 78/100, retirement score 72/100. Medical access, specialist and emergency care, affordability, and retirement suitability. Deterministic planning estimates.

Arrival planning guide for Ottawa

Practical arrival planning context for Ottawa — links into transport, public-safety, healthcare, budgeting tools, and methodology. Not an official airport or travel instruction service.

Neighborhood planning guide for Ottawa

Structured neighborhood research checklist for Ottawa — links into transport, public-safety, healthcare, arrival planning, and budgeting tools. Not a real-estate, rental, or safety-ranking service.

Moving to Ottawa planning guide

Structured relocation research checklist for Ottawa — links into country context, arrival planning, neighborhood research, cost tools, healthcare, public safety, and transport. Not immigration, visa, tax, legal, financial, medical, or property advice.

Visual guide to Ottawa

Source-attributed visual context for Ottawa using verified Wikimedia imagery from the existing media catalog, alongside structured city intelligence and planning links. Not a tourism guide or attractions ranking.

Summer 2026 travel planning guide for Ottawa

Summer 2026 travel planning checklist for Ottawa — links into arrival planning, visual orientation, budget tools, transport, public safety, and healthcare context. Not a weather forecast, events calendar, hotel-price guide, or tourism ranking.

Weekend trip planning guide for Ottawa

Weekend trip planning checklist for Ottawa — links into arrival planning, Summer 2026 travel context, visual orientation, budget tools, transport, public safety, and healthcare context. Not an itinerary, events calendar, hotel-price guide, restaurant guide, or tourism ranking.

Nearby weekend places from Ottawa

Source-backed nearby place records for local-first weekend planning, with verification status, official source links, Wikidata identity, and visual context.

Estimate a monthly budget for Ottawa

Estimate a monthly budget for Ottawa using your own housing, food, transport, healthcare, and lifestyle inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official cost-of-living measurement.

Plan a trip budget for Ottawa

Plan a trip budget for Ottawa using your own accommodation, food, local transport, activities, travel, healthcare buffer, and emergency buffer inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official travel cost estimate.

Nearby cities from Ottawa

Where else nearby you could spend a day or a weekend from Ottawa. Links are derived from geographic proximity, shared region, shared natural-recreation areas, transport corridors, and country borders — not popularity or tourism rankings.

Gatineau, Canada

Nearby city · about 8 km from Ottawa. Explore Gatineau's city intelligence profile.

Cornwall, Canada

Same region · about 87 km from Ottawa. Explore Cornwall's city intelligence profile.

Kingston, Canada

Same region · about 146 km from Ottawa. Explore Kingston's city intelligence profile.

Laval, Canada

Same region · about 153 km from Ottawa. Explore Laval's city intelligence profile.

Montreal, Canada

Same region · about 165 km from Ottawa. Explore Montreal's city intelligence profile.

Longueuil, Canada

Same region · about 177 km from Ottawa. Explore Longueuil's city intelligence profile.

Belleville, Canada

Same region · about 193 km from Ottawa. Explore Belleville's city intelligence profile.

Peterborough, Canada

Same region · about 241 km from Ottawa. Explore Peterborough's city intelligence profile.

Trois-Rivières, Canada

Same region · about 265 km from Ottawa. Explore Trois-Rivières's city intelligence profile.

Related collections

Regional discovery collections that include Ottawa — named natural regions grouping nearby nature, parks, lakes, coasts, and mountains for local-first day and weekend planning.

Themed collections

Theme-first discovery collections that include Ottawa — grouped by outdoor interest (mountains, lakes, coasts, forests, national parks) rather than geography.

Interpretation

Use the Ottawa profile to compare cost framing, mobility, and public-services signals alongside Toronto and Montreal. Its standout dimensions are air quality (80/100) and safety (79/100). The area most worth watching is cost of living (72/100), where the model registers practical gaps. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-16. Drawn from 4 institutional references.

Country context is available on the Canada country page. Related rankings include Overall Intelligence, Quality of Life, Remote Work. See where Ottawa appears in global rankings or read the scoring methodology.

Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation. Verified datasets are being integrated; official sources should be used for critical decisions.

Sources

4 institutional references inform this view, listed below with reliability notes. Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation; verified datasets are being integrated and official sources should be used for critical decisions.