OttawaServiceFinder.com
Menu

Civic Hospital–McKellar Heights

West

A residential street in the Civic Hospital neighbourhood.
Photo: Vpescanlar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fast Facts

  • Population: 10,980 (City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study ("Civic Hospital-Central Park"))
  • Size: 7.46 km² (Computed from the City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study boundary polygon)
  • Distance from Parliament Hill: About 5.1 km southwest (straight-line distance)

Overview

Civic Hospital–McKellar Heights is a small residential area in west-central Ottawa named for The Ottawa Hospital's Civic Campus, a major regional hospital that has stood at Carling Avenue and Parkdale Avenue since 1924. The area's boundary also takes in a northern slice of the Central Experimental Farm, a working federal research farm and National Historic Site, including the Fletcher Wildlife Garden and part of the Dominion Arboretum.

Boundaries

The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study's "Civic Hospital-Central Park" boundary is centred on The Ottawa Hospital's Civic Campus at Carling and Parkdale Avenues, and extends south to take in a northern portion of the Central Experimental Farm, including Fletcher Wildlife Garden, part of the Dominion Arboretum, and Reid Park.

Map

History

The Ottawa Civic Hospital opened in 1924 at Carling Avenue and Parkdale Avenue, built to replace several smaller, aging hospitals then serving the city. It became one of the region's largest hospitals over the following century and, since a 1998 merger, operates as the Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital.

The Civic Campus marked its 100th anniversary in 2024; several of its original 1920s buildings are heritage-designated, and community advocates have campaigned to protect them ahead of a planned move of most acute-care services to the new Ottawa Hospital campus on the Central Experimental Farm's Carling Avenue frontage, targeted for the late 2020s.

The neighbourhood's southern portion overlaps the Central Experimental Farm, established by the federal government in 1886 as an agricultural research station and now a National Historic Site of Canada, containing the Dominion Arboretum (planted from 1889) and, since 1996, the volunteer-run Fletcher Wildlife Garden.

The residential streets around the hospital were built up through the early-to-mid 20th century alongside the hospital's growth, and the area remains defined by its dual institutional and residential character.

Claim to Fame

Civic Hospital–McKellar Heights is defined by The Ottawa Hospital's Civic Campus, a landmark regional hospital open since 1924, and by its share of the Central Experimental Farm, a working federal research farm and National Historic Site immediately to its south.

Surrounding Neighbourhoods

Hintonburg and Wellington Village lie north, Carlingwood and Carlington lie further west, Centretown and the Glebe lie east, and the Central Experimental Farm continues south toward Alta Vista.

New Developments

  • —

Architecture

The neighbourhood mixes early-to-mid-20th-century residential streets with the large institutional footprint of the Civic Campus, whose original 1920s hospital buildings are heritage-designated. The Central Experimental Farm portion to the south retains open farmland, research plots, and mature arboretum plantings dating from the 1880s onward.

Pedestrian and Cycling

Pathways through the Central Experimental Farm and Fletcher Wildlife Garden offer walking and cycling routes away from traffic, while Carling Avenue itself is a busy arterial road oriented more toward driving and bus service.

Amenities

Transit Options

OC Transpo bus routes run along Carling Avenue, including direct service to the Civic Campus. The neighbourhood does not have its own O-Train station. Check octranspo.com for current route numbers, since the network is periodically redesigned.

Nearby on This Site

No listings yet in this area.

Official Information

Last verified: August 27, 2026