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The Glebe

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The Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park in the Glebe.
Photo: Cantons-de-l'Est, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fast Facts

  • Population: 12,193 (City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study ("Glebe - Dows Lake"))
  • Size: 2.71 km² (Computed from the City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study boundary polygon)
  • Distance from Parliament Hill: About 2.8 km south (straight-line distance)

Overview

The Glebe is a walkable, tree-lined neighbourhood between the Rideau Canal and Bronson Avenue, built on land granted to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1837 and opened for development in 1870. Its Bank Street commercial strip has been home to independent shops and restaurants since the 1890s, and the neighbourhood borders Lansdowne Park, home to the restored 1898 Aberdeen Pavilion, TD Place stadium, and a mix of shops, restaurants and housing.

Boundaries

The City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study combines the Glebe with the adjoining Dow's Lake area into a single boundary ("Glebe - Dows Lake"), running along the Rideau Canal to the east and Bronson Avenue to the west. It is used here as the closest official match for the Glebe, though it extends somewhat further west than the Bank Street core most people mean by "the Glebe."

Map

History

The Glebe takes its name from a clergy reserve of land granted to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1837. The land was opened for development in 1870, and Ottawa real estate agents of the era shortened its formal title to "the Glebe," making it one of Ottawa's first suburbs.

The first agricultural fair was held on what were then called the exhibition grounds in 1868; they were renamed Lansdowne Park in 1890 and hosted the first annual Central Canada Exhibition in 1888. The Aberdeen Pavilion, an exhibition hall known as the "Cattle Castle," was built there in 1898 and is now a National Historic Site.

Bank Street's shops began opening in 1895, and in 1900 the Ottawa Electric Street Railway extended a line south along Bank Street, letting Glebe residents commute downtown by streetcar. A wave of construction through the 1910s and 1920s, including grand homes and at least one apartment block designed by architect W.E. Noffke, filled out the neighbourhood's residential streets.

By the 1990s Lansdowne Park had been mostly paved for parking, and the city restored the Aberdeen Pavilion, reopening it in 1994. A major redevelopment beginning in 2012, led by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, rebuilt the stadium and added retail, commercial and residential buildings around the historic pavilion.

Claim to Fame

The Glebe's defining feature is its walkable Bank Street commercial strip, lined with independent shops and restaurants since the 1890s, alongside Lansdowne Park's restored 1898 Aberdeen Pavilion and TD Place stadium at its southern edge.

Surrounding Neighbourhoods

Centretown and the Golden Triangle lie north across the Queensway area, Old Ottawa South is across the Rideau Canal to the east (via the Bank Street Bridge), and Dow's Lake and the Central Experimental Farm lie west and south.

Architecture

The Glebe's residential streets carry homes built mainly from the 1870s through the 1920s, including grand houses and an apartment block designed by architect W.E. Noffke in the 1910s and 1920s. Bank Street retains a low-rise, small-scale commercial streetscape from the same period, while Lansdowne Park mixes the restored 1898 Aberdeen Pavilion with new stadium, retail and residential construction added during its 2012-2014 redevelopment.

Restaurants

  • Light of India — Indian

    Indian restaurant at 730 Bank Street offering a daily lunch and Sunday brunch buffet alongside an à la carte dinner menu of northeastern Indian dishes.

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  • Taj Mahal — Indian

    Family-run Indian restaurant at 925 Bank Street.

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  • Banditos — Mexican / Southern Californian

    Southern California-inspired street food restaurant at 683 Bank Street, known for its large patio and cocktail program.

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  • Erling's Variety — Bistro

    Neighbourhood bistro at 225 Strathcona Avenue, just off Bank Street, serving seasonal, comfort-forward small plates.

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Grocery Stores

  • McKeen Metro Glebe — Grocery store

    Family-owned Metro grocery store at 754 Bank Street, serving the Glebe since 1910.

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Pedestrian and Cycling

Bank Street is a walkable commercial strip, and the Rideau Canal pathway along the neighbourhood's eastern edge is a major walking and cycling route into Old Ottawa South, Centretown and downtown.

Schools

Amenities

Transit Options

OC Transpo bus routes run along Bank Street; the neighbourhood does not have its own O-Train station, with the nearest stations a bus or bike ride away. Check octranspo.com for current route numbers, since the network is periodically redesigned.

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Official Information

Last verified: August 27, 2026