As a metropolitan centre with over 800,000 residents, Ottawa offers a sprawling, active place to live. The city regularly tops the lists of Best Places to Live thanks to a high quality of life, great city services, and a solid economy.

All these great options and city size mean that it can be hard to choose which Ottawa home for sale is right for you. Do you settle in one of the many historic districts? Find a hamlet that offers the perfect combination of community and urban amenities? Hit the downtown city centre for the perfect Ottawa condo for your lifestyle?

There are hundreds of unique neighbourhoods in Ottawa, ranging from small villages to larger, suburban sprawls. That’s why it’s important to have an Ottawa real estate agent at your side who knows how to navigate the communities here—and how to match your goals with the perfect place to call home.

Although not all the neighbourhoods are listed below, here is a good example of the variety you’ll find here in the Ottawa real estate market.

  • Downtown Ottawa: If a faster-paced life and direct access to theatres, restaurants, and cultural hotspots are what you’re after, downtown Ottawa offers an incredible backdrop. Because this is where you’ll find a number of government offices and hotels, most of the options in downtown Ottawa residential real estate are high-end condominiums.
  • Riverside South Community: Located just 15 minutes south of the main city centre, the Riverside community offers great views of the Rideau River and over 750 acres of parks in which to enjoy it.
  • Dow’s Lake: If historic charm and great views are what you’re after, Dow’s Lake real estate offers an incredible chance to enjoy it all. If you’re lucky enough to live on the river or overlooking one of the many parks, you can enjoy a bucolic experience just outside the city centre.
  • The Glebe: The Glebe is one of the most community-oriented areas in Ottawa. A bustling bedroom community, the houses here range from smaller townhome-style residences to single-family homes with plenty of room to grow. Shops, restaurants, and a tight-knit community centre complete the picture.
  • Orleans: Orleans is one of the top-rated suburbs of Ottawa. This well-developed area offers great transportation to the city centre while still retaining a small-town feeling of its own. You’ll find a range of housing options, great parks and schools, and many rural spaces that make it feel like you’re miles from an urban metropolis.
  • New Edinburgh: If luxury real estate in Ottawa is what you’re after, New Edinburgh offers a number of great homes for sale. This exclusive neighbourhood offers a mixture of high-end residences, parkland, and upscale restaurants and shops.While the Ottawa centre has so much to offer its residents, there are also real estate options a little further out—and still with great community options. It doesn’t matter whether you want to stay close to capital city or move to a more rural neighbourhood like the outlying Rockland area. When you move to Ottawa, you can have it all.