Committee approves plan to help protect Rideau Canal cultural landscape

The Built Heritage Committee today approved the Rideau Canal Cultural Landscape Study, developed jointly by the City, the National Capital Commission (NCC) and Parks Canada.

The Study establishes a shared understanding of the area's cultural heritage value and provides a framework to guide its conservation and management.

The Study assessed an 8.2-kilometre section of the Rideau Canal extending from the Ottawa Locks to the north end of Mooney’s Bay. Protecting the area surrounding the Canal is important because the Rideau Canal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a National Historic Site of Canada and a Canadian Heritage River. The City has long recognized the Canal’s heritage value through its Official Plan, which includes policies to protect its unique character.

The Study:

• Identifies the area's heritage value as a cultural landscape of international, national capital and local significance
• Provides guidance for planning, reporting, project development, programs and development review within the study area
• Strengthens collaboration among the three partner organizations

The City will consider the following areas for potential Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs) to help protect their heritage character:

• Properties on and near Queen Elizabeth Drive from Somerset Street to the Queensway Bridge
• Properties on and near Queen Elizabeth Drive from Pretoria Avenue to the Bronson Bridge
• Properties on Echo Drive and Colonel By Drive from Hawthorne Avenue to Bronson Avenue
• Properties overlooking Commissioners Park (exact boundaries to be determined)

Council has already endorsed an HCD Study for properties on both sides of the Canal. The Golden Triangle HCD will include properties along Queen Elizabeth Driveway. The remaining areas are identified in the Heritage Planning Branch’s work plan for future consideration.

Committee approves heritage designation for 701 Montréal Road

The Committee approved a heritage designation for 701 Montréal Road. The one-and-one-half-storey limestone house, built around 1875, meets four of the nine criteria for designation.

The property is adjacent to l’Hôpital Montfort. It began as a farmhouse in Gloucester Township. Pioneer families owned and operated the property for several generations before it was acquired by the Filles de la Sagesse (Daughters of Wisdom), a Roman Catholic congregation founded in 16th-century France.

The Daughters of Wisdom established and operated the St-Louis Marie de Montfort Hospital at this location, known today as Hôpital Montfort. For 73 years, from 1952 to 2025, the stone house played an important and evolving role in hospital operations. It housed members of the Daughters of Wisdom who served at the hospital, as well as nursing students, clergy and hospital staff.

As one of only seven remaining stone buildings in the area, it is a rare example of Montréal Road’s historic architecture.

New Heritage Conservation District for the Golden Triangle

The Committee also approved the proposed Heritage Conservation District (HCD) for the Golden Triangle area, including an HCD Plan under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act to help conserve heritage resources and guide future change. This will be Ottawa’s first new HCD since 2020.

The neighbourhood is located in the eastern portion of Centretown, generally between Elgin Street and the west bank of the Rideau Canal. Most homes were built between the 1870s and 1930s.

The area includes a variety of building types and architectural styles, from large detached homes to more modest front-gable, semi-detached and row houses. The HCD is intended to recognize and conserve the area's distinct history, character and sense of place while helping manage future change.

Provincial rules require that at least 25 per cent of properties within HCDs adopted after January 1, 2023 meet two or more of the nine heritage criteria outlined in the Ontario Heritage Act. In the proposed Golden Triangle HCD, 75 per cent of properties meet two or more criteria, with most meeting three or more.

City Council will consider the designation of the Golden Triangle Heritage Conservation District, the designation of 701 Montréal Road and the application to demolish the accessory structure at 66 Bradford Street on Wednesday, July 15. The remaining items will rise to Council on August 26.

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• Agenda