Spaces in motion

Ottawa has been a centre of French life since it was founded at the beginning of the 19th century. Rideau Canal construction, the logging industry, the city's designation as the capital of Canada, followed by the explosion of the public service – all attracted Francophones from across the country. Ottawa quickly became the most important hub of French life outside Quebec City. Today immigration is a determining factor in maintaining the vitality of Ottawa's French-speaking world. 

Francophones have shaped several neighborhoods in Ottawa – Lowertown, Lebreton Flats, Sandy Hill, Vanier, Orléans – and made them into distinctive communities. Those neighbourhoods have experienced great changes over the course of history. The great fire of 1900, the urban renewal project that resulted in the forced exodus of entire families during the 1960s and 1970s – these episodes are deeply rooted in living memory. The appeal of the suburbs proved to be a powerful factor of transformation. Both the urban fabric and the built environment reflect the dynamics of space and its use by several generations of Francophones. This heritage is at the heart of Francophone identity in the capital.

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Two children on a Sandy Hill Street, Lowertown Ottawa, May 3, 1976. Photo: Le Droit.

Source : University of Ottawa, CRCCF, Fonds Le Droit (C71), Ph92-4-6011-12.

Black and white photograph of two children crossing a residential street, hand in hand. On both sides of the street, brick row houses and large trees.
Bytown and its first French Canadians
Lithograph in black and white of a small town surrounded by trees, alongside a river. A church stands out from the landscape.
Lowertown's golden age
Colour photograph of an inner courtyard with a fountain in the foreground, and two buildings – one in wood, the other in stone – behind it. The metal facade of a house is fastened to the stone building, near the top of the wall.
In the aftermath of Confederation
Black and white photograph of a stone canal with locks. Wood debris is strewn in piles along the shore. In the background, a wooden bridge and an urban landscape.
Living in Sandy Hill
Black and white photograph of several adjoining three-story brick houses with basement, sidewalk views. Cars are parked in two of the driveways. The street is filled with trees, and flowers grow in the small, well-maintained yards.
Vanier : a village within a city
Color photograph of a mural depicting near and far views of the “R.C. Cummings” commercial building in red brick. The building, located on an island in the center of a river, is reached by a metal bridge.
The “Ottawans”
Black and white photograph showing seven older men in an exhibition hall. Four sit on a bench, while three stand behind them. They are all dressed in suits and look serious.
Rivalry with the Irish
Black and white photograph of a church in winter. A house, trees and four people are part of the landscape. Part of the photograph is hidden, because of the camera lens.
Daily lives
Black and white photograph of a three-storey stone building with awnings. Many people, along with different types of horse-drawn conveyances, wait in the square in front of the building.
Lowertown in the time of expropriation
Colour photograph of four houses boarded-up in a winter landscape.
Orléans : a Franco-Ontarian suburb
Color poster, featuring three characters of different periods. The text is typed in French and logos appear at the bottom of the poster. In the background, a natural landscape overlaid with the bust of an explorer, seen from behind.
LeBreton Flats ill-treated by history
Black and white photograph of a large crowd in a street threatened by smoke. Some people are in buggies with their possessions. Firefighters arrive in wagons.
New faces, new territories
Colour photograph of a one-story brick theatre building, painted dark blue, with several glass doors and windows. A marquee announces that the next play will be “L'Illusion comique de Corneille,” presented by the Théâtre la Catapulte.
“Divercity”
Colour photograph of a group of teenagers from different racial groups standing in front of a coloured mural representing the multicultural and inclusive character of the place.