Canada · North America
Moving to Ottawa
Ottawa quick facts
Canada at a glance
North America
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World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Ottawa
Can you move to Canada?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Canada — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Canada
Work permits, permanent residence, and why the federal jobs are harder than they look
Canada separates the right to be here from the right to work: a work permit is employer-specific unless it is one of the open categories, and permanent residence runs through the Express Entry pool or a provincial nomination. In Ottawa there is an additional layer — the dominant employer is the federal government, which gives preference to citizens and requires security screening that takes months.
Read the full step-by-step guideOntario's graduated licence, expensive insurance, and crossing into Quebec
Ontario exchanges licences directly with a defined list of countries and otherwise runs a graduated system of G1, G2 and G — though documented foreign driving experience can shorten it substantially. Insurance is private and Ontario's premiums are among the highest in Canada, so a letter of experience from your previous insurer matters more here than almost anywhere.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening an account, and building a credit score from nothing
Opening a Canadian chequing account is straightforward — the major banks run newcomer packages that waive fees for a year and require no Canadian credit history. The hard part is that your credit record does not cross the border, and a Canadian score gates renting, phone contracts and borrowing. The fix is deliberate and slow, so start it in your first month.
Read the full step-by-step guideOHIP, finding a family doctor, and what the river changes
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan covers physician and hospital care with no premiums. It does not cover prescriptions outside hospital for most working-age adults, dental, vision or ambulance transport. Ontario's family doctor shortage is severe and getting attached to a practice is the single hardest piece of healthcare admin here — start it on arrival.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting a phone plan without credit history, and why it costs so much
Canadian mobile is expensive by international standards and the market is concentrated in three groups. Without Canadian credit history a postpaid plan usually requires a deposit, so most newcomers start on prepaid or with a flanker brand. In Ottawa there is a local quirk worth knowing: a Gatineau address gets access to Quebec pricing, which is the cheapest in the country.
Read the full step-by-step guideFederal and Ontario tax, residency by ties, and the river that doubles your return
Canada taxes residents on worldwide income, and residency is determined by residential ties rather than a day count. In Ontario you file one return covering both federal and provincial tax. The Ottawa-specific wrinkle is that your province is decided by where you live on 31 December — so a household that works in Ontario and sleeps in Quebec files two returns and pays Quebec's higher rates.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential English phrases
Reading a list isn’t learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer — hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
Most federal public service jobs are effectively closed to non-citizens
CriticalThe Public Service Employment Act gives preference to Canadian citizens, and permanent residents are eligible for far fewer postings than the job boards suggest. On top of that, almost every position requires at least Reliability status security screening, which takes months and requires a verifiable address and background history — hard to produce in your first years in the country. In the city where the federal government is the dominant employer, this shapes the whole job search, and newcomers routinely discover it only after applying.
Living in Gatineau instead of Ottawa changes your province, not just your address
CriticalThe National Capital Region spans the Ottawa River, and a great many people work on the Ontario side and live on the Quebec side because housing is cheaper there. That decision moves you to RAMQ instead of OHIP, to two tax returns instead of one, to Quebec's mandatory winter tyres and public injury insurance, and to Quebec's tenancy law and French-language obligations. It is a genuinely consequential choice dressed up as a commute decision.
Apply for your SIN in the first week — nothing about being paid works without it
CriticalThe Social Insurance Number is issued free by Service Canada and is required before an employer can put you on payroll. In person at a Service Canada centre it is usually issued on the spot; online takes longer. Bring your passport and work permit or Confirmation of Permanent Residence. Leaving it until after your start date delays your own first paycheque.
Your credit history does not come with you, and Ontario landlords check it
CriticalWhatever your record elsewhere, in Canada you start at zero. Ontario landlords routinely run credit checks, mobile carriers require one or a deposit, and no lender will consider a foreign record. The fix is a secured credit card used lightly and paid in full monthly, plus one of the newcomer packages the major banks run. Start in month one, because a usable score takes months to build.
French is a career asset here in a way it is not in Toronto or Vancouver
ImportantA large share of federal positions are classified bilingual imperative, meaning you are tested in both official languages before appointment. Ottawa is genuinely bilingual in a way most of Ontario is not, Gatineau across the river operates in French, and free language training is available to federal employees. For anyone building a career in the capital, French is not a cultural nicety — it is a promotion criterion.
This is one of the coldest capital cities in the world, and the city is built for it
Good to knowJanuary regularly sits below −20 °C with wind chill well beyond that, and snow is measured in metres across a season. What makes it work is that everything is designed around it: the canal becomes a skating commute, the ski hills in Gatineau Park are twenty minutes away, and winter is the season the city is most alive rather than least. People who try to wait it out indoors have a much worse time than people who buy proper boots and go outside.
Top industries & employers
Federal government
Treasury Board, Global Affairs, Department of National Defence, Statistics Canada, CRA
The federal public service is by a wide margin the largest employer in the region, which gives Ottawa unusually stable employment and unusually slow hiring.
Technology & telecoms
Shopify, Ciena, Nokia, Ericsson, Ross Video, Kinaxis
Ottawa's 'Silicon Valley North' grew out of Nortel's collapse, which scattered thousands of telecom engineers into new companies — the optical networking cluster here remains world-class.
Defence & security
General Dynamics Mission Systems, Calian, MDA, Lockheed Martin Canada
Proximity to the defence procurement machinery keeps a substantial contractor sector here, most of it requiring security clearance.
Software & SaaS
Shopify, Klipfolio, Assent, Fullscript, Solace
Shopify's headquarters anchors a genuine product software scene, and the city's cost base makes it viable to build here rather than in Toronto.
Higher education & research
University of Ottawa, Carleton University, National Research Council, Algonquin College
The University of Ottawa is one of the largest bilingual universities in the world, and the National Research Council's laboratories are concentrated here.
Health & life sciences
The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO, Ottawa Heart Institute, Health Canada
The Ottawa Heart Institute and the research hospitals attached to the university form a substantial clinical research base alongside the federal health regulator.
Where to go in Ottawa
The Rideau Canal Skateway
Culture · Centretown to Dow's Lake
A UNESCO World Heritage canal that freezes into the world's largest skating rink each winter, running nearly eight kilometres through the city.
Local tip: People genuinely commute on it — skate to work, change shoes, carry on. The season is shorter than it used to be and opening depends entirely on the ice, so check the daily conditions rather than planning ahead. Rent skates at Dow's Lake and go early on a weekday.
ByWard Market
Food · Downtown, east of Parliament
One of Canada's oldest continuously operating public markets, surrounded by restaurants, bars and produce stalls.
Local tip: The market building and the outdoor stalls are the real thing, particularly in autumn for Ontario produce. The surrounding bar strip is student-heavy and rowdy at weekends — the daytime market and the night-time district are effectively two different places.
Gatineau Park
Nature · 15 minutes across the river, in Quebec
Nearly 400 square kilometres of Canadian Shield forest, lakes and escarpment, beginning almost at the edge of downtown.
Local tip: The best cross-country skiing accessible from any Canadian city, on a groomed network of over 200 kilometres, and swimming lakes in summer. Note that it is in Quebec — different parking rules and different signage, and the parkways close to cars on summer Sunday mornings for cyclists.
Parliament Hill & the museums
Landmark · Downtown, on the river
The Gothic revival parliament buildings above the Ottawa River, and the cluster of national museums around them.
Local tip: The national museums are free on certain evenings and the National Gallery's Canadian and Indigenous collections are the strongest in the country. Centre Block is under a very long restoration, so the parliamentary tour is not what postcards show.
Westboro & Hintonburg
Neighborhood · West of downtown along Wellington
Two adjoining neighbourhoods that became the city's best independent shopping and eating strip, with beach access at the end.
Local tip: Hintonburg is the earlier, scruffier and more interesting half; Westboro has been thoroughly gentrified. Westboro Beach on the Ottawa River is a genuine swimming beach fifteen minutes from downtown, which almost no visitor realises exists.
The Ottawa River whitewater
Hidden gemNature · 60–90 minutes upstream
World-class big-volume whitewater on the Ottawa River, with commercial rafting operations along it.
Local tip: This stretch is internationally known among paddlers and almost unknown to people who live in the city. Warm water by Canadian standards, huge forgiving waves, and a genuine day trip that residents consistently mean to do and never quite do.
Emergency numbers in Ottawa
Compare Ottawa with…
Side-by-side cost of living, language, climate and careers — to help you choose.