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Old Ottawa South

Central

A residential street in Old Ottawa South.
Photo: Thorfinn Stainforth, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fast Facts

  • Population: 6,635 (City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study)
  • Size: 1.43 km² (Computed from the City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study boundary polygon)
  • Distance from Parliament Hill: About 3.8 km south (straight-line distance)

Overview

Old Ottawa South is a riverside neighbourhood bounded by the Rideau Canal to the west and the Rideau River to the east, built up along Bank Street after the street was extended over the canal in 1866. It is home to the Mayfair Theatre, Ottawa's oldest continuously operating movie theatre, and grew steadily through the 20th century as streetcars and later Carleton University's move to its current campus in 1959 drew more residents.

Boundaries

The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study boundary runs along the Rideau Canal to the west and the Rideau River to the east and south, covering the Bank Street corridor between the two waterways and residential streets such as Ossington and Sunnyside Avenues.

Map

History

The first European residents settled along the north shore of the Rideau River, in what is now Windsor Park, in the 1810s. A small community grew over the following decades with a hotel, church, mill and school, but the area remained isolated from Bytown until Bank Street was extended across the canal on a wooden bridge in 1866.

Ottawa South was annexed to the City of Ottawa in 1907, along with other Nepean Township villages. The City built a sturdier Bank Street Canal Bridge in 1912 and extended the streetcar line across the canal along Bank Street in 1913, and this infrastructure — together with the neighbourhood's setting between two waterways — shaped the housing that filled in the area for residents of varying means.

The Mayfair Theatre opened on Bank Street on December 5, 1932, designed by architect Daniel John Crighton in an Atmospheric Spanish Renaissance style; it remains Ottawa's oldest continuously operating movie theatre and was a regular haunt of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau while he lived in Ottawa. It was formally designated a heritage building in September 2008.

Growth continued through the 20th century, accelerating after Carleton University moved to its present campus, just across the canal, in 1959. Old Ottawa South was a popular student neighbourhood through the 1960s and 1970s before gentrifying through the 1980s into the family-oriented, walkable neighbourhood it is today.

Claim to Fame

Old Ottawa South's defining feature is its setting between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River along historic Bank Street, anchored by the Mayfair Theatre, Ottawa's oldest continuously operating movie theatre since 1932.

Surrounding Neighbourhoods

The Glebe and Centretown lie across the Rideau Canal to the north and west (via the Bank Street Bridge), Old Ottawa East is across the Rideau River to the northeast, and Alta Vista and Riverside Park lie south along Bank Street.

Architecture

Old Ottawa South's residential streets carry a mix of early-20th-century single- and semi-detached homes built after the 1913 streetcar extension made the area accessible, alongside Bank Street's small-scale commercial storefronts, most notably the 1932 Atmospheric Spanish Renaissance-style Mayfair Theatre.

Bars

  • The Belmont — Tapas and cocktail bar

    Neighbourhood tapas restaurant and cocktail bar at 1169 Bank Street, open since 2014, known for small plates and natural wines.

    Visit website

Pedestrian and Cycling

Pathways along both the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River, plus the Bank Street Bridge connection to the Glebe, make Old Ottawa South one of the more walkable and bike-friendly neighbourhoods in central Ottawa.

Schools

Amenities

Transit Options

OC Transpo bus routes run along Bank Street, crossing the Bank Street Bridge to connect to the Glebe and downtown; 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

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Official Information

Last verified: August 27, 2026