🚨 Developer wants to demolish the Carleton Tavern and rebuild it ‘in its original form’. The Taggart Group has applied to the City for permission to redevelop the entire block with ‘a 38-storey mixed-use residential tower above a six-storey L-shaped podium, featuring 465 new residential units, four levels of underground parking containing 322 parking spaces, and a privately owed public space’.  – Josh Pringle at CTV 

⛸️ The Rideau Canal Skateway is open again as of today. Conditions are ‘good to poor’ but that should improve as the week gets colder.  – National Capital Commission

🚊 The City of Gatineau has handed off its planned tram project to a new provincial agency. But Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonette and Société de transport de l’Outaouais president Edmund Leclerc fear for Mobilité Infra Québec’s committment to the project, which is intended to have 30 stations and a connection to downtown Ottawa.

Former OC Transpo head Renée Amilcar is the chief executive of Mobilité Infra Québec.  – CBC

↪ Councillors in Kingston are ‘demanding’ that Alto, the proposed Québec City – Ottawa – Toronto high speed rail project have a stop in that city.

↪ CJOH is looking for ‘Ottawa’s worst commute on public transit’ stories. They have printed some already, but if you have one, send it to OttawaNews@CTV.ca. You can CC: hello@theottawan.com if you like. 

✈️ You’ll be able to fly from Ottawa to  Deer Lake, Newfoundland all summer long. Porter Airlines has announced the new, five days per week route will begin June 10. If Deer Lake is a little too much for you, Cornerbook is the next big city. Incidentally, Porter will be using their jets for this route, not the propeller-powered Dash 8s.  – Travel and Tour World

WEDNESDAY

• ✳️ The all-volunteer run Play Hard Productions presents Sherlock Holmes and the Locked Room at the Gladstone Theatre until February 28.

• 🆓 Doors Open for Music: Swingin’ With Cupid by the Mike Manny Trio. Noon a Southminster United Church (Old Ottawa South)

• 🆓 As Heritage Week continues, Heritage Ottawa presents the Bob & Mary Anne Phillips Memorial Lecture Presentation on Demolition by Neglect: Preserving the Past Before It's Too Late, a panel discussion exploring one of the key problems of built heritage conservation. 

• In MELLOWING, Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos explores how the body’s energy creates a permanent vibration. The Dance On Ensemble is an initiative aimed at championing the value of age by showcasing the artistry, embodied knowledge, and emotional depth of dancers over 40. At the National Arts Centre tonight and tomorrow only. (Downtown)   

• Road Trip: Gardening enthusiasts who've daydreamed about using their passion as a bit of side income will be interested in the Pakenham Horticultural Society’s next event. Exploring Gardening as a Side Income will feature speakers who are all local growers. (Pakenham) 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Secret Agent, Hamnet, Sirat

• Mayfair Theatre: The Choral, All That's Left of You, Blades of the Guardians 

Gigs

• Classic Simpsons Trivia. The Gilmour

• Jazz Jam with the Peter Hum Trio. Night Oat

• Akoul. Red Bird

THURSDAY

• ✳️ Join archivist Melissa J. Nelson and Artist Kwame Delfish for the World at War Series – Sankofa: Exploring Memory and Imagination at the Canadian War Museum. This special Black History Month event explores how art and remembrance shape our connection to then past, present, and future. (LeBreton Flats) 

• ✳️ Ottawa School of Art is running the Making Paper From.. Wool! Workshop at the Orléans Campus. Today and tomorrow at 245 Centrum Blvd (Orléans) 

• Troupe Vertigo: Cirque Magique brings gravity-defying aerial moves to the Southam Hall stage, while the National Arts Centre Orchestra plays a live soundtrack of popular symphonic movie scores. Through Saturday (Downtown) 

• Get ready for the warmer months with the 50th Anniversary Ottawa Boat & Outdoors Show. 

• 🆓 National Gallery is free from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm every Thursday. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Hamnet, Sirat, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 

• Mayfair Theatre: All That’s Left of You, Blades of the Guardians

Gigs

• Arkona, Malphas, Serene Dark. Overflow Brewing

• Friends Trivia. The Prescott

• The Offspring ‘Supercharged Worldwide in ’26’ tour. Canadian Tire Centre

• Erika Lashbrook. Night Oat

FRIDAY

• The City of Ottawa Lansdowne 2.0 project team will be hosting a community pop-up to keep people informed about the latest developments 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Horticulture Building,  1525 Princess Patricia Way (Lansdowne).

• Learn from the best at Whisky Wonderland’s Friday Masterclass Sessions. The Stadium at TD Place (Lansdowne). 

• Kid in the Hall Bruce McCulloch (These are the Daves I know I know, Kathie with a C, and others) comes to Algonquin Commons Theatre on his The Dark Purple Slice Tour.  

• Complete the Making Paper from… Wool! Two day course from Ottawa School of Art. 

• Gamers, bring your own or select from the Wizard’s Tower collection of Board Games and Chess boards at the meet-up tonight from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  
   

• Get ready for the warmer months with the 50th Anniversary Ottawa Boat & Outdoors Show. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Hamnet, The Love That Remains, Kokuho, Sirat 

• Mayfair Theatre: My Father's Shadow, Hamnet, The Rocky Horror Picture Show 

Gigs

• 80s Dance Party. House of TARG

• Peter Cancer Group. The Robo Lounge

• Queers & Beers: February Chill. Queen St. Fare

• The Maple Blues Band. Babs Asper Theatre, National Arts Centre 

•  Zero State, Mortality Mirror, Moldead. Dominion Tavern

• Pimienta (spicy jazz). Art House Café

JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING

• Hear community radio direct from one of Ottawa’s coolest local businesses next Monday morning as CKCU broadcasts from Art House from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. 

• St. Vincent, Ottawa’s own Angelique Francis and her band, and Hiromi’s Sonicwonder are just some of the names in the second wave of talent that Ottawa Jazz Festival 2026 (June 19-28) has dropped. Tickets and passes go on sale tomorrow, February 19. 

• Register now for Urban Nature Camp at the Canadian Museum of Nature (choose a week from July 6 through August 21). Presented with Out to Play Forest and Nature School.