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Hourly modelled air quality for downtown Ottawa in plain language — and where to find Environment Canada's official AQHI when wildfire smoke moves in.
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On smoke days, Environment Canada's AQHI carries the official health guidance — link at the bottom of this page.
Good Air quality is satisfactory and pollution poses little or no risk — no reason to change any plans.
| Day | Air quality |
|---|---|
| Mon, Aug 24 | Good |
| Tue, Aug 25 | Good |
| Wed, Aug 26 | Good |
| Thu, Aug 27 | Good |
Ottawa's worst air days now come from wildfire smoke drifting in from fires elsewhere in Ontario, Quebec and beyond. In June 2023 the official index hit the top of its scale and Ottawa briefly had the worst air of any major city in the world; another smoke advisory covered the city in August 2025. On smoky days: close windows, ease off hard outdoor exercise, and check on people with heart or lung conditions.
This page shows the European air quality index from a global atmosphere model (Copernicus CAMS) — a good area-wide estimate, not a street monitor. Canada's official health index is the AQHI (cote air santé, 1 to 10+), published by Environment and Climate Change Canada with specific advice for Ottawa. When the two disagree on a bad-air day, trust the AQHI.
The pollen model behind this tool only covers Europe, so we don't show pollen numbers for Ottawa rather than show figures we can't stand behind.
Updated . These are modelled estimates for the area around downtown Ottawa, not readings from a street monitor — air right beside a busy road can be worse than the area-wide picture. The official index where you are is the Air Quality Health Index from Environment and Climate Change Canada. Official forecast: weather.gc.ca. Air quality data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), based on Copernicus CAMS.
Good
US Air Quality Index (EPA) 41 · downtown Ottawa