The neighbourhoods
Centretown & Golden Triangle
CAD 1,700–2,200 / month for a 1-bedBetween Parliament and the canal — mid-rise apartments, Elgin Street, and walking distance to the federal offices
Commute: Walk to most downtown offices; the O-Train is a few minutes away
- Walk to work for anyone in the federal core
- Elgin Street's restaurants and bars on the doorstep
- The canal and the Skateway at the end of the street
- The most expensive rents in the city
- Quiet at weekends when the public service goes home
- Older mid-rise stock with variable maintenance
The Glebe & Old Ottawa South
CAD 1,800–2,400 / month for a 1-bedAlong the canal south of downtown — brick houses, Bank Street shops, and the city's most settled family district
Commute: 15 minutes to downtown by bus or bike along the canal
- The best schools and family housing in the city
- Bank Street is a genuine independent high street
- The canal, Lansdowne and Brewer Park all adjacent
- Expensive, and mostly houses rather than apartments
- Traffic and parking chaos on event days at Lansdowne
- Very little purpose-built rental stock
Hintonburg & Wellington West
CAD 1,500–1,950 / month for a 1-bedWest along Wellington — the city's best independent eating strip, and a river beach at the end of it
Commute: 10–15 minutes to downtown on the O-Train from Tunney's Pasture or Bayview
- The most interesting food and drink in Ottawa
- Directly on the O-Train Line 1
- Westboro Beach on the river is a fifteen-minute walk
- Prices have risen sharply as the strip got popular
- Older housing stock, much of it converted
- The good part is narrow — a few blocks either side of Wellington
Sandy Hill & Lowertown
CAD 1,350–1,750 / month for a 1-bedEast of downtown around the university — student-heavy, close to everything, and the cheapest central rents
Commute: Walk to downtown and the ByWard Market; O-Train at uOttawa
- The cheapest central rents in Ottawa
- Walking distance to the market, the university and downtown
- Handsome older houses on the quieter streets
- Heavily student, with the noise and turnover that implies
- Parts of Lowertown are rougher and it varies street by street
- Much of the stock is subdivided houses in poor repair
Kanata & Stittsville
CAD 1,550–2,000 / month for a 1-bedThe western tech suburbs beyond the Greenbelt — newer housing, family space, and the office parks
Commute: 35–50 minutes to downtown by bus or car; O-Train extension serving the corridor
- Where the technology employers actually are — many people never commute downtown
- Newest housing stock with insulation that works
- Genuinely good schools and family amenities
- Beyond the Greenbelt and thoroughly car-dependent
- A long commute if you work downtown
- Suburban in a way that suits families and few others
Gatineau — Hull & Aylmer
CAD 1,150–1,550 / month for a 1-bedAcross the river in Quebec — cheaper rents, French-first, and a different province in every administrative sense
Commute: 10–20 minutes to downtown Ottawa by STO bus across the bridges
- Several hundred dollars a month cheaper than the Ontario side
- Quebec's subsidised childcare, which is worth a great deal to young families
- Gatineau Park on the doorstep
- A different province — RAMQ with a waiting period, two tax returns, Quebec's higher rates
- Mandatory winter tyres from 1 December
- French-first services, and the STO and OC Transpo fare systems do not fully integrate
How renting works in Ottawa
On the Ontario side, tenancies fall under the Residential Tenancies Act and the Landlord and Tenant Board. A fixed term automatically becomes month-to-month at the end and the landlord cannot simply end it. Rent increases are capped annually by a provincial guideline — but only for units first occupied before 15 November 2018. Anything newer is exempt from the cap entirely, which makes the age of the building one of the most consequential things about a listing.
- 1
Ask when the unit was first occupied, before anything else
Ontario's rent increase guideline applies only to units first occupied before 15 November 2018. Newer buildings are exempt and the landlord can raise the rent by any amount at renewal with ninety days' notice. In a city with a lot of new purpose-built rental, this single question separates a capped tenancy from an uncapped one and it is almost never volunteered.
- 2
Decide the province before you decide the neighbourhood
Gatineau rents run several hundred dollars below the Ontario side and Quebec's subsidised childcare can be worth more again. Against that: RAMQ's waiting period on arrival, two tax returns every year, Quebec's higher combined income tax and sales tax, mandatory winter tyres, and French-first services. Run the whole calculation rather than the rent line.
- 3
Assemble a rental package before viewing
Credit check, employment letter with salary, references and photo identification in one PDF. Ontario landlords may lawfully ask for all of these and for a guarantor as well — what the Human Rights Code forbids is imposing that requirement because of your family status, receipt of social assistance or another protected ground, or holding a guarantor to an income test the landlord could not lawfully apply to you. If you have no Canadian credit file, offer a foreign credit report and an employment letter instead.
- 4
Know that only a rent deposit is lawful in Ontario
A landlord may collect a rent deposit of up to one month, which must be applied to the last month of the tenancy rather than held against damage. Damage deposits, key deposits beyond the actual replacement cost, and pet deposits are not lawful in Ontario. Requests for them are common and they are not enforceable.
- 5
Use the standard lease — it is mandatory here
Ontario requires most residential tenancies to use the province's standard lease form. If a landlord uses their own document, you may demand the standard form in writing, and if they do not provide it you gain specific rights including withholding rent in defined circumstances. A landlord who avoids the standard lease is telling you something.
- 6
Ask what heating costs in January and who pays for it
Ottawa is one of the coldest capitals in the world and heating is a serious line item. Whether heat and hydro are included changes the real cost of a unit by hundreds of dollars a month across a winter. In older buildings it is often included; in newer ones it usually is not.
Upfront cost
First and last month's rent — Ontario permits a rent deposit of up to one month which is applied to the final month, so the practical cost of moving in is two months. Damage deposits and pet deposits are not lawful, whatever a listing says.
Where to search
Insider tips
- Ask when the building was first occupied. Before November 2018 means your rent increases are capped by the provincial guideline; after means they are not capped at all. Nothing else on a listing matters as much.
- If you are considering Gatineau, price the whole package — rent, childcare, income tax, sales tax, car insurance and the RAMQ waiting period — rather than just the rent. For a family with young children Quebec often wins; for a single high earner it usually does not.
- Live on the O-Train line if you can. Ottawa's bus network is extensive but slow, and the winter is long enough that a short reliable commute is worth paying for.
- Insist on the Ontario standard lease. It is legally required for most tenancies, and a landlord who will not use it is a landlord to walk away from.
- Ask whether heat and hydro are included before comparing two rents. A January in Ottawa can put hundreds of dollars between two apartments that looked identical on a portal.
- Check the winter maintenance arrangement for the driveway and walkway. Snow clearing is a real recurring obligation here, and whose job it is should be written into the lease rather than assumed.
Avoid these
- Signing in a post-2018 building without realising rent increases there are uncapped.
- Choosing Gatineau on rent alone and discovering RAMQ's wait, two tax returns and the winter tyre law afterwards.
- Paying a damage or pet deposit, neither of which is lawful in Ontario.
- Accepting a landlord's own lease instead of the mandatory provincial standard form.
- Comparing rents without adding heating in one of the world's coldest capital cities.
- Assuming the OC Transpo and STO fare systems work as one — crossing the river is its own fare.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.