Hello Ottawa

STATISTICS OTTAWA

NUMBER

• $122.5 million

• The amount of money that Ross Video will be investing to expand its operations in Ottawa and Iroquois, adding 125 jobs to its existing 1,330. 

• Ross Video has 10,000 customers including the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift.

• – Ted Raymond at CTV

OTTAWAN OF THE DAY

• Cody McCallum

• The artist bought a 75 year-old letterpress and, with the help of a $10,000 Ottawa 200 grant, will be creating prints of local landmarks to be available through vending machines throughout the city for $2.

• – Ottawa Citizen

QUOTE

“

• And I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for this group. I’m grateful for these ladies, I’m grateful for our team. It’s been a year.

– Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod after last night’s match, which awarded the Walter Cup of the Professional Women’s Hockey League to Montréal Victoire.

– Lisa Wallace in the Canadian Press

PLEASE SUPPORT THE OTTAWAN

WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

THE DAILY POLL

What is your favourite streaming service?

🔘 Crave

🔘 Netflix

🔘 Disney+

🔘 Prime Video

🔘 Apple TV

🔘 CBC GEM

🔘 I don’t subscribe to any streamers

• 
  Previously in OTTAWAN polls:

• 
  What do you think of development?’

  • 13% People want single family homes, and we should build out on the land surrounding Ottawa

  • 35% We should be building taller on land that’s already developed

  • 9% Zoning limits housing – developers should build as the market demands

  • 38% I want walkable neighbourhoods and cool shops and services nearby but also to preserve the character of the existing houses

  • 5% I much prefer development 20 years after it has already happened

  • 
    Commentary

▪️ “Build up, not out. Urban sprawl has large infrastructure costs that are not sustainable.”

▪️ “Single family homes are a 1950s trick car companies used to sell more vehicles. Maybe we should just pave the entire city? 🤮”

▪️ “Fill in the empty or underused lots within the city limits. .No more sprawl!”

▪️ “This city needs to develop mixed use developments, not more sprawl.”

▪️ “More density everywhere! That’s how you get lively vibrant communities with walkable amenities. Enough with the huge single family home neighbours and giant SUVs.”

▪️ “Enough of this crazy urban sprawl and let’s force the developers to build affordable housing for rentals and to own.”

▪️ “When the homes for the returning veterans were built post WWII they were in the outskirts of Ottawa (at the time) but they met the need for affordable housing. Perhaps that model could work now.”

▪️ “Low-rise dense infill, some mid & hi rise, and yes some new single family homes, but a much larger proportion needs to be non-market. Mostly keep green belt. Use what we have wisely. The keys are better transit and better housing funding.”

▪️ “More walkable neighbourhoods! Stop incentivizing building single family homes in the core when duplex and triplexes are also great options. Fill the missing middle! 📣”

HISTORIC OTTAWA LOGO T-SHIRTS

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THE ROLLING THREE DAY CALENDAR

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✳️ Means change from previous edition

THURSDAY

• ✳️ These are the final days to enjoy Saunders Farm’s Tulipfest. Walk through the blooms in the apple orchard, enjoy photo ops against the giant Dutch windmill. Closes Sunday May 24. (Munster) 

• The folks at Moto Social are an extremely friendly bunch; they invite everyone, motorcycle enthusiast or not, to join in their hangs every third Thursday from May to September. This month they’ll be meeting up at Red Door Provisions on Beechwood for coffees and a good old chinwag. (Beechwood/Vanier)  

• 🆓 Take a dance class at Zibi tonight. Each month you’ll learn a new dance style (Bollywood, Afro-Caribeean, K-Pop are all on the menu). 7:00 pm (on the island between Ottawa and Gatineau)

• Ottawa Art Galley’s Give to Get Art Auction has something for everyone, from art, to live music, great food and even activities. Ticket purchases help the OAG stay free for art lovers, fuel the careers of emerging artists, and enable the creation of exhibitions. (Sandy Hill) 

• The intimate Red Bird is filled with the sounds of Canada’s East Coast as Nova Scotia’s Dave Gunning performs his new album Field Notes. 

• Hintonburg Night Market has a new vendor and music line up every week, so you never know what you'll find. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema:  The Wizard of the Kremlin, Interactive: 10 Things I Hate About You 

• Mayfair Theatre. The Christphers, Calle Málaga, Exit 8   

Gigs

• Dave Gunning. Red Bird

• Human, Nature. Art House

• Ian Tamblyn. The Robo Lounge

• Kick-Off Event ft. Satellite Birdhouse, Danielle Allard, Jai Vinyl. Rainbow Bistro

FRIDAY

• ✳️ The organizer of the Karaoke Night at the Prescott says it will take place in the ‘elegant hall downstairs’. Huh? There's an elegant hall? Downstairs? Send photos! Better yet, get a photo of you standing on stage and singing your heart out at the Karaoke Night and send that to us. Because we want to celebrate your talent (and moxie) and we want to see this elegant hall. (Little Italy)

• House of TARG welcomes a slew of Ottawa’s best bands in a benefit for the ByTown Cup (‘Good People Playing Bad Hockey’). Dark Plains, Expanda Fuzz, and Neck are all playing. 

• The Heart of Robin Hood continues at the Ron Maslin Playhouse. (Kanata)

• Road Trip: The Smiths Falls by the Rideau Market is located by the Rideau Canal and features performances by the Next Step Cloggers, locally grown produce, crafts, and more. (Smiths Falls)  

• Nepean Choir, Castenchel Choir, Nepean High School Choir, The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and guest soloists bass Matthew Li and mezzo-soprano Gabriela Comeau-Gort collaborate to present Better is Peace at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre.(Centretown) 

• Hit your daily protein target at the Kanata RibFest, today through Sunday.

• Hit your weekly carbs target at the Orléans Mac My Cheese fest. Today through Sunday 

• There’s another fine benefit show, this time at Avant Garde Bar: Red Light Run, Fantomfez, BirdDog, Dying, and Tara Holloway are playing in support of The Door Youth Centre. 

• You don’t have to run very far to join the circus this weekend. Ottawa Circus Festival offers performances, workshops, and social events where artists mingle with enthusiasts. (Sandy Hill)  

• Dogs are welcome at the Ottawa Titans’ ‘Bark in the Park’ game vs Sussex County Miners. 

Cinema

•  ByTowne Cinema: I Love Boosters, Silent Friend, Drunken Cinema: Shrek  

• Mayfair Theatre: Everyone Is Lying To You For Money, The Drama, The Wicker Man 

Gigs

• The New Hires, the Varitones, Yellow Magnolia. Rainbow Bistro

• Isaac Baronikian. Red Bird

• Cassidy Houston, Magic Machine. Night Oat 

• Fever Pitch Hot Jazz. Art House

• Jessica Kirson. Bronson Centre

• Beats’n Keys. Hard Rock Ottawa

SATURDAY

• Road Trip: We’re intrigued by the notice from the village of Clayton, which is holding a fundraising Newfie Breakfast, plant sale, jumble sale, and bake sale at the Community Centre from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. 

• If you’re planning a trip to the behemoth that is Great Glebe Garage and Sidewalk Sale, be prepared to hoof it, ride your bike, take a bus, or grab a taxi. Many roads are closed this weekend for Tamarack Race Weekend. 

• LeMonde Studio’s Dog Island Summer is an interactive installation built for family and four-legged friends. Explore it with your pupper, then wander around the Village. Winston Square from 1:00 pm (Westboro) 

• Meet adoptable rabbits, buy treats in the bake sale, talk with rabbit rescues, and have a generally great time at Ottawa Bunnypalooza. (Britannia) 

• Score new-to-you  film cameras, equipment, and photo books at the SPAO Garage Sale.  Today and tomorrow at 77 Pamilla St. (Little Italy) 

• Visit the new 1st Annual Ottawa Book Expo at Rideauview Community Centre, to find something new for your bedside stack, discover new authors, and make new bookish friends. (Riverside South) 

• This week at Carp Farmers Market: Authentic Ukrainian dishes for your freezer, like Perogies (potato & bacon, potato, feta, & dill, and potato and caramelized onion), Cabbage Rolls, and Pumpkin/Butternut Squash Soup, all care of Ukrainian Soul Roots. 

• Get down at 3 Brewers 240 Sparks St with Agua Dance.  First, take an intro Salsa/Bachata dance class for $5, then dance your heart out for the rest of the evening. (SOPA) 

• Get your garden up to speed with the Vanier Seedling Sale: they'll have veggies, herbs, and flower seedlings ready for planting. (Vanier) 

• Try the new menu at Bicycle Craft Brewery’s Kitchen Launch Party from noon to 4:00 pm (Riverview). 

• There’s a tiny but mighty community market today at the Constance and Buckham’s Bay Community Centre. Organizers promise local vendors, handmade treats, artisan crafts, coffee, and friendly faces. Bonus: you get to visit one of the most scenic residential areas in Ottawa. (Constance Bay)

• Revel in the sticky vibe at Kanata Ribfest until Sunday. (Kanata)   

• Reasons to attend Opening Day at Metcalfe Farmers Market: 1. To visit more than 45 vendors, 2. to enjoy free parking, and 3. to indulge in your sporadic fantasy of moving to a pretty little town, away from big city problems. 

• The Heart of Robin Hood continues at the Ron Maslin Playhouse. (Kanata)

• Mac My Cheese Fest enters Day 2 in Orléans. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Ponyo (English dubbed), Silent Friend, I Love Boosters  

• Mayfair Theatre: The Drama, The Docks of New York  

Gigs

• Luicidal (ft ex-members of Suicidal Tendencies), Blackout!, Mangler. Dominion Tavern

• Kanata Wind Ensemble performs music inspired by light, in all its forms. Parkdale United Church

• Thunder Glove, The Great Octopus, Remi Royale, Live Wrestling. House of TARG

• Alicia Kayley. Council Oak Stage at Hard Rock Ottawa

• La La Land in Concert. Hard Rock Live

• Sam Stone Band. Hard Rock Live

JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING

• Orléans Craft Beer Festival (June 5-6) has become a must-attend event on the Ottawa summer calendar, bringing a great selection of Ottawa and region brewers, food vendors, bands, and of course, beer lovers to the big tent. (Orléans)

• Pelican Seafood’s School of Fish has dropped new summer events: Summertime Raw Bar (June 2) Lobster 101 (June 15 and June 16), and The Italian Catch (June 29). These courses are hugely popular and will probably sell out.

DEALS OF THE DAY

Save 20% site wide at fashion-forward, Montréal-made Eliza Faulkner, when you use the code BDAYSALE2026.

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BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

Katherine Caspersz at NarCity Ottawa says that we should all go for a hike around Pink Lake in Gatineau Park: ‘This woodland boardwalk near Ottawa leads past glassy waters to a rare turquoise lake’. THE OTTAWAN suggests that you take her advice.

If cycling is more your thing, Dominique Bojans in the Pontiac Journal reminds everyone that the PPJ Cycloparc route is now open for the summer. PPJ refers to the Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway Company on whose old tracks the Cycloparc now lie.

Meanwhile, Julie McCann in Neapeanville writes of the joy of hiking with strangers, in this case as she takes on the Poet’s Pathway, the 35 km trek from ‘Britannia Beach, south along  Pinecrest Creek, east along  Nepean Creek ; it crosses the Rideau River, moves north to the Ottawa River, and ends in Beechwood Cemetery where the poets lie’.

RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

THE END

THE OTTAWAN is written and edited every working weekday by Martha and Darren. Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single comment.