NEW TOUR: Women have always played critical roles in Ottawa, but their contributions are often underappreciated or miscredited. Although frequently overlooked in walking tours and history books alike, women have played key roles in shaping our urban environments and creating our communities. From early tavern owners in rowdy Bytown, to formidable landscape architects, the imprint of women's history is everywhere. Join us for a walk through Ottawa's herstory, where we explore the unique contributions of women, both ordinary and famous, and consider their lasting impact on the communities we call home. 

NEW TOUR: The Village of Ashton is on the western edge of Ottawa's city boundary. The Village has changed relatively little since the first settlement in 1818. This heritage setting on the banks of the Jock River boasts three church spires and plenty of well-preserved heritage homes and businesses. The tour will highlight the preserved, repurposed and active historical buildings that made Ashton a thriving community, finishing with some social time in the old Grist Mill (now Ashton Pub). Heritage Ottawa thanks the Goulbourn Township Historical Society for developing this tour. 

NEW TOUR! Ottawa has a long and proud sport tradition that includes key events in the story of basketball and its inventor: James Naismith. With his friend, Thomas Duncan (TD) Patton, Naismith travelled from Ottawa to Springfield College, Massachusetts, where both enrolled. Naismith would invent basketball, organizing the first-ever game there on December 21, 1891. Patton was recognized as basketball's "first player." 

This fascinating tour shines light on the lost history of how Naismith and Patton played a role in Ottawa being an "early adopter" of basketball. The first recorded game outside the U.S. took place at Ottawa's YMCA on October 3, 1892, making Ottawa "Canada's basketball birthplace." The tour discusses the people involved, and the places where basketball took root. It highlights the important role of sport in Ottawa, and basketball in particular, in bridging people from a range of cultures, communities and neighbourhoods. 

Please Note: The tour ends at St. Luke's Park at the corner of Elgin and Frank streets.

Lieutenant Colonel John By supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and had a major influence on its design, from the Ottawa locks to Kingston. This tour begins at the foot of the locks and travels to the Corktown Bridge, exploring the architecture and engineering of buildings and structures along the Rideau canal, as well as of the canal itself. A world heritage site since 2007, the Rideau Canal corridor exemplifies nearly 200 years of change, while retaining the elements that made the canal such a remarkable achievement. 

NEW TOUR! The landscape of the Hogs Back area, which is part of the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site, has been shaped by nature, history and urban design. Join us to learn more about how the natural conditions of the area were transformed by Rideau Canal engineering in the early 19th century and reconfigured through the building of Capital driveways, parks and federal buildings in the 20th century. Enjoy views of bridges, waterways and historic buildings that showcase a corner of Ottawa that is known by name, but with an almost hidden history that contributes towt-2025-10 what makes Ottawa unique. 

Present day Hintonburg began as several rural estates stretching west from Bytown along the Richmond Road (now Wellington St. West). As these estates were subdivided into residential lots, the population grew, spurred on by the job opportunities found nearby with the railways, lumber yards and Central Experimental Farm. Arrival of the streetcar in 1891 promoted even more growth and the Village of Hintonburg was incorporated in 1893.

The early streetcar suburb grew quickly after annexation to the City of Ottawa in 1907. Just as the streetcar led to rapid growth in the early 20th century, the LRT is bringing new pressures to Hintonburg.

The tour will take you through the heart of this interesting, eclectic and socially varied neighbourhood, rich in heritage, now undergoing intensification pressures. 

Explore the landscapes around the National Gallery of Canada created by pioneering Canadian landscape architect, Cornelia Oberlander. She collaborated with National Gallery architect Moishe Safdie from 1984-88 to design interior and exterior spaces of the Gallery with schemes referencing art in the Gallery's collection. Her work represented a radical departure for Ottawa gardens at the time. In addition to the Taiga Garden alluding to the art of the Group of Seven, Oberlander designed the Minimalist Courtyard, Pin Oak Allée, and the Op Art path behind the Gallery. 

The tour will also include some of the outdoor sculptures installed by the National Gallery and will terminate at the newly landscaped Kìwekì Point (formerly Nepean Point). 

A heritage asset of the National Capital Commission opened in 1923, Island Park Drive was designed to extend the Capital parkway system, which continues to preserve the original design intentions as well as many of the original homes along its entire length. As one of Ottawa's most prestigious historical neighbourhoods, Island Park Drive has been home to many prominent Canadians who contributed significantly to the economic and cultural development of Ottawa. Residents have included legendary jeweller Jack Snow, printing tycoon Rolla Law Crain, W.H. Taylor Arkley, "the tailor," and Daniel and Lucy Rochester, and Dr. Stafford Kirkpatrick, a Queen's University metallurgical genius. 

Explore New Edinburgh's architectural variety and beautiful streetscapes through a walking tour that highlights its amazing history and the community's efforts to protect the area's history and heritage. 

The neighbourhood is centred on a mill town founded in 1829. As one of Canada's earliest planned communities, it still presents a largely 19th-century face to the world. The tour will look at the industrial roots of the village, introduce some early inhabitants, and show how the community has evolved over time.

NEW TOUR! Ottawa's Sandy Hill is a neighbourhood rich in architectural beauty, layered histories, and evolving housing forms. Join us to explore the area’s transformations, from its origins as the 19th-century estate of Louis-Théodore Besserer, to its heyday as a home for lumber barons, senior public servants and prime ministers, on to its postwar shift toward denser, more middle-class housing. Along the way, we will highlight the architectural styles that define the area and the shifting demographics, values, and pressures that continue to shape Sandy Hill’s urban fabric. Discover how Sandy Hill’s built environment reflects the tensions and triumphs of city-building over nearly two centuries and what lessons it may hold for today’s housing challenges.