Ottawa
Ontario, Canada · Population 1,017,449
Tools
Today's air, the numbers worth keeping, and what's opening around the city.
Loading Air quality check…
Air quality check
Loading Who to call…
Who to call
Loading What opens when…
What opens when
Common questions
Plain answers to the questions Ottawa residents actually ask: garbage rules and the three-item limit, winter parking bans, finding a family doctor, the O-Train, school boards and beach season.
Locals' picks
Residents' own answers to the questions Ottawa keeps asking — cheap groceries, the best shawarma, trustworthy repairs, winter survival — ranked by votes.
Beach guide
Ottawa's four supervised beaches — Britannia, Westboro, Mooney's Bay and Petrie Island — with parking, washrooms, food and the 2026 lifeguard season, plus how water testing works now.
Which school system?
Find which of Ottawa's four publicly-funded school boards fits your family — English or French, public or Catholic — with each board's own school-finder and registration pages.
Ottawa River level
The live level and flow of the Ottawa River at Britannia from the federal gauge, how today compares with the past month, and the official flood-forecast and warning channels.
Winter Parking Ban Watch
Whether the forecast snowfall could cross the 7 cm that triggers an overnight on-street parking ban — read from a weather model, with the City's official channels first. It never says a ban is on; only the City declares one.
Rideau River level
The live level and flow of the Rideau River at the city gauge, how today compares with the past month, and the flood-warning channel for the river that floods Old Ottawa South.
Loading suggestions…
Changelog
- UpdatedThe air quality page now names the right index
- UpdatedRefreshed the common questions, the contacts and what opens when
- UpdatedThe parking ban page now says where to put the car
- UpdatedThe beach guide now says when the season is over
- New toolAdded a live gauge for the Rideau River
- New toolOttawa: a heads-up on winter parking bans
- Town updateAdded a sketch of the Rideau Canal Skateway
- New toolOttawa River level — the live gauge at Britannia
- New toolWhich school system? — a step-by-step finder for Ottawa's four boards
- New toolShipped a beach guide ahead of the 20 June season opening
Nearby towns
Other towns on Town Tools near Ottawa.
Get Ottawa updates by email
A short digest when something new ships here — new tools, updates, research. Nothing else.
About these tools
Town Tools builds free, public tools for Ottawa and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.