General Demographics

Among the six largest cities in Canada, Ottawa had the third highest proportion of households with an after-tax income over $100,000 in 2016. Compared to 32% in Ottawa, Calgary had 39%, Edmonton 33%, Toronto 24%, Vancouver 24% and Montréal 12%. Moreover, compared to those same cities, at 9%, Ottawa has one of the smaller proportions of households earning less than $20,000.

Ottawa's age demographics reflect the broader societal reality of an aging population. Fifty years ago, the proportion of Ottawa's population under the age of 19 was 40%, compared to 23% in 2016. Those over 65 made up about 7% of the City's population, compared to 15% in 2016. The proportion of residents over 65 is projected to grow to 20% by 2031.

As of 2016, the population of Ottawa included over 216,000 immigrants. By individual country of origin, China is the birthplace of the largest proportion of Ottawa's immigrants. By taking a regional perspective, 45% of Ottawa's immigrant population was born in Asia or the Middle East. Most of these immigrants are from China, followed by Lebanon and India. Europe is the birthplace of the next largest segment, at 26%. Though the city’s immigrant population has grown significantly in the past decade, Ottawa is far from a top destination of choice for new immigrants to Canada.

At 14% in 2016, the proportion of residents with French as a mother tongue is significantly higher in Ottawa than in all other major Canadian cities except Montreal. On the other hand, the proportion of Ottawa residents who reported a mother tongue other than English or French is 22%, compared to 44% for Toronto and Vancouver, 33% for Montreal, and 30% for Calgary.

Ottawa is a relatively bilingual city, with 38% of the population claiming knowledge of both official languages.  This compares to 9% for Toronto and 7% for Edmonton and Calgary.  Unilingual English speakers comprise 59% of Ottawa's population, compared to 86% in Toronto and 90% in Calgary and Edmonton. Unilingual French speakers make up 1% of Ottawa's population, compared to 0.1% for Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

With an area of almost 2800 square km following amalgamation in 2000, the City of Ottawa is geographically by far the largest of Canada’s major cities. About 90% of this land is rural, strongly influencing the character and potential of the City. Yet 55% of Ottawa’s population is urban, 35% suburban, and only 10% rural. Depending on the City's success in focusing intensification on priority areas, proportionately more dwelling units should be built in the urban areas, leading to growth in the relative size of the urban population.