About Centretown
The City of Ottawa bounds Centretown by Gloucester and Lisgar streets to the north, the Rideau Canal to the east, the Queensway to the south, and Bronson Avenue to the west.
In the 2021 Census, Centretown held 25,687 residents in just 2.1 square kilometres, more than 12,000 people per square kilometre and among the highest densities in Ottawa.
Centretown grew up as walk-to-work housing for Parliament Hill, and that origin still shapes the streetscape. Most buildings inside the Centretown Heritage Conservation District, designated by the City in 1997, date from between 1890 and 1914. Bank and Elgin carry the commercial life of the neighbourhood, while streets like MacLaren and Gladstone stay residential.
Homes in Centretown
Housing in Centretown is dominated by apartments and condominiums, from three-storey walk-ups on tree-lined side streets to high-rise towers near the office core, with steady new construction north of Cooper Street since the late 1990s.
Detached and semi-detached homes exist, many brick Victorians and Edwardians set into the original grid, but they are a small share of what trades in a given month. Townhouses and infill rows fill the middle.
This mix creates two very different entry points. At the time of publishing, Wahi reported a median sold price of roughly $420,000 for Centretown condos against roughly $1,300,000 for detached houses: a first-time buyer downtown and a buyer after a heritage single are shopping two separate markets.
Inventory turns over quickly here, so it pays to watch Centretown homes for sale as new listings appear.
Schools in Centretown
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board schools inside the neighbourhood cover junior kindergarten through Grade 12.
- Location: 310 Elgin Street
- Grades: JK – Grade 6
- Visit website
- Location: 376 Gloucester Street
- Grades: K – Grade 6
- Visit website
- Location: 28 Arlington Avenue
- Grades: Grade 7 – Grade 8
- Visit website
- Location: 29 Lisgar Street
- Grades: Grade 9 – Grade 12
- Visit website
Shopping in Centretown
Retail in Centretown runs along the street rather than inside a mall, which is unusual for Ottawa and one of its real advantages.
The Bank Street Promenade runs from Wellington down to Catherine, and its business improvement area, founded in 1977, is the oldest in Ottawa. The stretch holds independent grocers, bookshops, restaurants, and bakeries, and closes to traffic each June for the Glowfair street festival.
Sparks Street Mall at the northern edge has been closed to cars since 1967, making it the first pedestrian mall in Canada, and it still fills at weekday lunch with markets, buskers, and seasonal events.
For department stores and national chains under one roof, CF Rideau Centre is a short walk east across the canal, connected directly to Rideau station.
Public Transportation
Centretown is one of the best-connected neighbourhoods in Ottawa, and many households run on a single car or none at all.
O-Train Line 1 runs along the northern edge with underground stations at Lyon and Parliament, putting Tunney’s Pasture, Bayview, uOttawa, Hurdman, and Blair within a single ride. Rideau station, one stop east, serves the Rideau Centre and the ByWard Market.
On the surface, Bank Street is the main bus corridor, carrying routes 6 and 7 north toward Parliament Hill and the Rideau Centre and south toward Lansdowne Park.
Elgin Street and the Gladstone Avenue corridor add coverage across the east and south. Because OC Transpo has recently revised much of its network, confirm current routes before committing to an address.
Healthcare in Centretown
Centretown has both neighbourhood primary care and a major hospital minutes away.
The Centretown Community Health Centre anchors day-to-day care. Its team runs walk-in appointments alongside mental health services, diabetes education, a newcomer clinic, and outreach for seniors and people experiencing homelessness.
The nearest major hospital is The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, roughly a ten-minute drive west. It houses the Eastern Ontario Trauma Centre and serves as a regional referral hospital, with a replacement campus under development nearby at Dow’s Lake.
Pharmacies, dental offices, and physiotherapy clinics line Bank, Elgin, and Somerset, so most routine appointments stay within walking distance.
Community and Entertainment in Centretown
Community life in Centretown runs through institutions that have been here for decades, plus a summer calendar of street festivals.
The Centretown Citizens Community Association has represented residents since 1969. The volunteer group consults on development applications, publishes a neighbourhood newsletter, and carries local concerns to City Hall.
The Canadian Museum of Nature is the neighbourhood’s landmark, housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, a Tudor Revival structure completed in 1911 and the first in Canada purpose-built for national museum collections. Inside are the fossil galleries, a bird gallery of more than 450 Canadian species, and rotating exhibitions.
The Ottawa Public Library Main branch at 120 Metcalfe Street serves the downtown core, and remains the central library until the new Ādisōke facility at LeBreton Flats opens.
Dining Out in Centretown
Few Ottawa neighbourhoods offer this much range inside a walkable radius, from cash-only breakfast counters to some of the city’s most reviewed dining rooms.
town at 296 Elgin Street shares one kitchen and one menu with its sibling CITIZEN, around the corner on Gilmour Street. Dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday, with a bottle shop from three.
Riviera occupies a converted bank building on the Sparks Street pedestrian mall, and its high ceilings and long bar make it the default choice for a special occasion or a client dinner.
Wilf & Ada’s at 510 Bank Street is a from-scratch breakfast and lunch counter on the site of the old Ada’s Diner. No reservations, cash and debit only, and a weekend queue that speaks for itself.
The Whalesbone Elgin is the larger sibling of the original Bank Street oyster house, with room for bigger tables and a sustainable seafood program running since the early 2000s.
Parks in Centretown
Green space works differently here than in the suburbs. Rather than one large central park, Centretown is stitched together with single-block squares and pocket parks between residential streets, so almost every address is a short walk from one.
Dundonald Park – A full city block on Somerset Street West with a playground and mature shade trees, plus plaques marking the 1945 Igor Gouzenko defection that unfolded in the building across the street.
Confederation Park – A 2.6-hectare NCC park at Elgin and Laurier, opened for the 1967 centennial, and the main venue for Winterlude and much of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival.
McNabb Park – Paired with the McNabb Arena and Community Centre, offering a wading pool, playground, skateboard park, and outdoor rink, along with an indoor gym and studio space.
Minto Park – A quiet garden square off Elgin Street and the site of Enclave: The Ottawa Women’s Monument, installed in 1992.
If you are weighing Centretown against other parts of the city, our rundown of Ottawa’s top neighbourhoods is a useful place to compare.
Ready to Call Centretown Home?
Centretown asks you to trade square footage for location, and for many buyers that trade is an easy one.
A home in this neighbourhood offers strong central access to transit, the canal, shops, and schools, at a price point that many Ottawa communities cannot match.
Centretown also rewards patience: because most of the stock is attached or stacked, detached Victorians and larger corner units come up rarely and move fast.
Our team has sold more than 9,000 Ottawa homes since 2011, and we know how properties behave. Browse our current listings for what is available now, or weigh it against the up-and-coming Ottawa neighbourhoods we track.
Call 613-788-2122, and we will walk you through what is coming to market in Centretown.
Paul Rushforth
Since 2004, Paul and his team have helped over 7000 families reach their real estate dreams. He continues to train and consult agents throughout the industry and is considered one of the most forward thinking pioneers in the industry, blazing trails for those around him.