Live in Blackburn Hamlet
A 1960s village built inside the Greenbelt and fenced in by it ever since: no room to grow, no through traffic since 1990, and 250 kilometres of trails at the edge of the street.
Blackburn Hamlet is one of only two suburban communities in Ottawa surrounded by National Capital Commission Greenbelt land, and that single fact governs almost everything about it. The Greenbelt was authorised in 1958, Costain Developments built the village inside it through the 1960s and 1970s, and the first families moved in during 1967. Because the surrounding land is protected, the community could not sprawl: its population peaked at 9,980 in 1981 and has drifted down since, to 8,173 at the 2021 census. What it has instead of growth is the ring around it, more than 250 kilometres of hiking and cross-country ski trails on the Greenbelt and adjacent Royal Canadian Mounted Police lands, and a set of facilities that a village of eight thousand has no business having: three ice pads, eleven soccer fields, and the largest air-supported indoor recreation structure in North America at the French public high school. The trade is distance. Downtown is fourteen kilometres away, the O-Train ends five kilometres west at Blair, and Innes Road is how you get to both.
The only Ottawa suburb whose outer limit was drawn before it was built
Blackburn Hamlet sits in Ottawa's east end, inside the Greenbelt and east of Green's Creek, in what was Gloucester before the 2001 amalgamation. Innes Road runs through it, with the Blackburn Hamlet Bypass carrying through traffic around the north side since 1990. The neighbouring communities are Beacon Hill to the northwest, Pineview to the west, Chapel Hill to the east and the Mer Bleue lands to the south, all of them separated from the village by protected land. This guide follows the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study's Blackburn Hamlet unit, which holds 8,172 people and, unusually for the ONS, lines up almost exactly with what residents mean by the name.
In 1958 the federal government gave the National Capital Commission the authority to establish the Greenbelt. In the mid-1960s Costain came out from England and built a village inside it, and the first families moved into Blackburn Hamlet in 1967. Every other Ottawa suburb was drawn and then bounded; this one was bounded and then drawn. Along with Bells Corners, it is one of only two suburban communities in the city ringed by NCC Greenbelt land, here with Royal Canadian Mounted Police holdings alongside it.
The consequence is that it cannot grow. The population peaked at 9,980 in 1981 and was 8,173 at the 2021 census, and the ONS puts it at 8,172 today. A falling population usually reads as a warning. Here it is arithmetic. There is no land to subdivide, so the only new households are the ones that come from turning over existing houses, and the household size in a 1970s subdivision falls as the children leave. What a buyer gets in exchange is a fixed edge: nothing will be built behind the back fence, because the land behind the back fence is not for sale.
The second consequence is the trail network. The Greenbelt and RCMP lands that surround the village carry more than 250 kilometres of hiking and cross-country ski trails, and they start at the edge of the subdivision rather than a drive away. Green's Creek runs down the western side with the toboggan hill the City maintains, and Mer Bleue Bog, 33 square kilometres of sphagnum with a boardwalk across it, is ten minutes south. For a household that actually uses the outdoors this is the strongest offer in the east end.
The facilities are out of proportion to the population, and that is the point. The village has three ice surfaces at the Lois Kemp Arena, eleven soccer fields at the Hornet's Nest with a private SuperDome beside them, and the Louis-Riel Dome, 12,422 square metres and the largest air-supported indoor recreation structure in North America, attached to the French public high school. All four Ottawa school boards run a school here. Most of this came out of the 1969 to 1975 building programme, and it stayed because there was nowhere for the community to move to.
The cost is distance and a single road. Innes Road is how you get in and how you get out, and since the bypass opened in 1990 the commuter traffic to Orléans goes around the village instead of through it, which is good for the street and does nothing for the drive. Blair, the eastern end of Line 1, is five kilometres west, and the realistic commute downtown is a drive to the station and about twenty-five minutes on the train. There is no rapid transit inside the Greenbelt here and none planned. If a one-car household is the plan, this is the wrong neighbourhood.
- The Greenbelt means nothing new will be built beside you, and nothing new will be built for you either
- Over 250 km of Greenbelt and RCMP trails start at the edge of the subdivision, not a drive away
- Three ice pads, eleven soccer fields and North America's largest air-supported dome, in a village of eight thousand
- All four school boards run a school in or beside the community, which is rare at this size
- Blair station is five kilometres west and the commute is drive-then-train: budget for two cars
- Ottawa levies tax by class on an assessment still frozen at 2016 values: about 0.83% of a market price
How Blackburn Hamlet got here
- 1803–1834English, Irish, Scottish and French settlers arrive on land known as Green's Creek, after Robert Green, who ran a sawmill here. By 1834 the timber is worked out and the land turns to farming. Settlers clear their own lots and build their own roads and schools.
- 1850–1876Richard Dagg gives land for the first school in 1850 and the place is known for a while as Daggsville. The name Blackburn arrives in 1876, when William Bradley and Robert Blackburn, a former Member of Parliament, secure a post office for it. The pioneer families, Kemps, Purdys and Scharfs, end up as street names.
- 1898–1981A Canadian Pacific short line opens in 1898, running through Gloucester from Hurdman's Bridge out to Blackburn. Passenger service on it ends in 1981, and the corridor stops being part of how the village works.
- 1958The federal government gives the National Capital Commission the authority to establish the Greenbelt. The outer limit of the village is therefore fixed before the village exists, which is the reverse of how every other Ottawa suburb happened.
- 1967–1975Costain Developments starts building and the first families move in during 1967. The Blackburn Community Club forms the same year and becomes the Blackburn Community Association in 1968. Bearbrook and Blackburn parks follow in 1969, the fire station and the first commuter bus in 1971, the arena in 1974, and the library, pool and tennis courts in 1975.
- 1981–1990The population peaks at 9,980 in 1981. Innes Road becomes a commuter route into the booming Orléans subdivisions beyond the Greenbelt, and the 3.3 km Blackburn Hamlet Bypass opens in 1990 to take that traffic around the village rather than through it.
- 1999–2005The Community Hall opens in 1999, Gloucester is amalgamated into the City of Ottawa in 2001, and in 2005 a dome goes up at École secondaire publique Louis-Riel: 12,422 square metres, and the largest air-supported indoor recreation structure in North America.
- 2021The arena is renovated and renamed the Lois Kemp Arena, and a splash pad opens beside it. The 2021 census counts 8,173 residents, down from the 1981 peak but steady for a decade.
The open space is the reason people stay
Green's Creek runs down the western side of the village in a Greenbelt ravine, with NCC trails through it and a toboggan hill the City maintains every winter. South of Innes, Mer Bleue Bog is 33 square kilometres of sphagnum peatland carrying subarctic vegetation, with a boardwalk over it, and it turns red in October. Between the two, the Greenbelt and the adjacent RCMP lands hold more than 250 kilometres of trail. Inside the village itself there are Bearbrook and Blackburn parks, both dating from 1969.
What the map does not show: the trails are usable eleven months of the year, and the twelfth is March, when Green's Creek runs high and the ravine turns to mud. Skis in January and boots in September, with a fortnight after the melt when neither works.
Elsewhere in Ottawa, not Blackburn Hamlet
22 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 22 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from a representative point near the village centre, using straight-line distance multiplied by a road factor and a tiered speed model. Honest ranges, not routed times. Almost every figure here runs west along Innes Road, because that is the only direction the Greenbelt leaves open.
Every gym within reach
For its size this is the best-equipped community in the east end. The Lois Kemp Arena on Glen Park Drive runs three ice surfaces in winter, the Hornet's Nest has eleven soccer fields and a private SuperDome with a FIFA-approved pitch, and the Louis-Riel Dome at the French public high school is the largest structure of its kind in North America. The outdoor pool and tennis courts beside the arena date from 1975.
- Three ice pads and a splash pad in a community of about eight thousand people
- The Hornet's Nest carries east-end soccer, with the SuperDome for the winter season
- The Louis-Riel Dome is 12,422 square metres and takes rentals as well as school use
- The Splash Wave Pool on Ogilvie Road is the nearest City aquatic centre, about eight minutes west
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Lois Kemp Arena open | The village arena on Glen Park Drive, opened in 1974 and renovated and renamed in 2021, with three ice surfaces in winter for hockey and public skating and a splash pad added outside. For a community of eight thousand this is a lot of ice. | 2–3 min |
| Blackburn outdoor pool and tennis courts open | The pool and courts opened in 1975 beside the arena and the community hall, in the cluster that is the village centre. Municipal, seasonal, and worth checking the City's current schedule before you count on it. | 2–3 min |
| Louis-Riel Dome open | The air-supported structure built at École secondaire publique Louis-Riel in 2005, at 12,422 square metres the largest indoor recreation facility of its kind in North America. Winter football, soccer, athletics and rentals, inside the neighbourhood. | 4–6 min |
| Hornet's Nest open | Eleven outdoor soccer fields on the Bearbrook grounds, renamed Hornet's Nest Park in 1984, with the privately run SuperDome and its FIFA-approved pitch beside them. The reason east-end soccer families know where Blackburn Hamlet is. | 4–7 min |
| The Greenbelt trails open | Not a gym: the Greenbelt and adjacent RCMP lands that ring the village carry more than 250 kilometres of hiking and cross-country ski trails, reached on foot from the edge of the subdivision. The free option, and the single best argument for living here. | 3–5 min |
The free option is the Greenbelt: over 250 kilometres of hiking and cross-country ski trails on the NCC and RCMP lands that surround the village, reached on foot from the edge of the street.
All four boards, inside one small village
Glen Ogilvie Public School and Emily Carr Middle School cover the English public stream to grade 8 without leaving the Greenbelt, and Norman Johnston Alternative School runs the board's alternative programme in the 1954 school building, admitting from across the city rather than by address. Good Shepherd is the English Catholic elementary, Sainte-Marie on Innes Road the French Catholic one, and École secondaire publique Louis-Riel the French public secondary.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Glen Ogilvie Public School | OCDSB | The English public elementary inside the village, and the school most Blackburn children start at. |
| Emily Carr Middle School | OCDSB | The English public middle school, grades 7 and 8, also inside the village. Middle school here does not mean leaving the Greenbelt. |
| Norman Johnston Alternative School | OCDSB | The board's alternative programme, in the 1954 school building that served the village before the subdivision was built. It admits from across the city rather than by address. |
| Good Shepherd School | OCSB | The English Catholic elementary in the village, so both English boards are represented inside the Greenbelt. |
| École secondaire publique Louis-Riel | CEPEO | The French public secondary on Bearbrook Road, and the reason the neighbourhood has North America's largest air-supported indoor recreation structure attached to a high school. |
| École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Marie | CECCE | The French Catholic elementary at 2599 Innes Road, kindergarten to grade 6. All four Ottawa boards run a school within a few minutes of the village centre. |
English public secondary is the one stream that means leaving the village, in the Ogilvie Road cluster out towards Beacon Hill. Confirm the current boundary for a specific address with the school board before you buy.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- A daily mean of −10 °C and 59 cm of snow on average, and the Greenbelt trails become ski trails for three months
- Three ice surfaces at the Lois Kemp Arena, in a village of eight thousand people
- Green's Creek's toboggan hill is maintained by the City and is busy every weekend
- The coldest fortnight of the year, with about 16 nights below −20 °C in an average year
- The Louis-Riel Dome is where the village's outdoor sport goes for the winter
- Winterlude is a drive to Blair and a train, which is the pattern for most downtown trips here
- Green's Creek runs high and the ravine trails are unusable for a few weeks
- The Greenbelt turns to mud before it turns to anything else
- March break, and the arena's schedule is the only thing keeping anyone indoors
- The trails firm up and the 250 kilometres around the village come back into use
- The soccer fields at the Hornet's Nest are still too soft, and everything stays in the dome
- Sixty-year-old maples on the interior streets start to leaf out
- The best weeks of the year in the Greenbelt, before the mosquitoes find Mer Bleue
- Soccer season opens at the Hornet's Nest and the village's traffic pattern changes for the summer
- Garden season, and the large 1960s and 1970s lots earn their keep
- Eleven soccer fields in use most evenings, and the parking around Bearbrook fills accordingly
- Sunset near 8:50pm, and the trails stay usable until well past it
- School ends, and the village's morning traffic on Innes disappears
- A July daily mean of 21.2 °C with humidex regularly past 35, moderated by sixty years of tree growth
- The outdoor pool and the splash pad are the village's answer, and Petrie Island is fifteen minutes north
- Mer Bleue's boardwalk is best early in the morning, before the heat and the insects
- The federal employers empty out and the Innes Road commute is briefly easy
- Peak humidity, and the month a 1970s house's cooling load gets tested
- The last weeks before the schools and the soccer leagues restart together
- The schools restart, and with them the morning queue west on Innes towards Blair
- The best weather of the year, and the best hiking weeks in the Greenbelt
- The Greenbelt's mushroom season, if that is your sort of thing
- Mer Bleue's bog turns red, which is one of the strangest and best things in the city and it is ten minutes away
- The village canopy peaks, and the Greenbelt around it does the same
- The first frost usually lands in the first half of the month
- Dark by half past four, and the trails empty out for a month before the skiing starts
- Leaf collection on large treed lots is its own annual undertaking
- The overnight winter parking ban starts, though almost every house here has a driveway
- The arena and the dome carry the month, and the rinks open when the cold holds
- The first serious storm, and the reminder that Innes Road is how everyone gets out
- The federal shutdown between Christmas and New Year empties the commute entirely
20 more photographs of Ottawa and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed Ottawa photo library, not photographs of Blackburn Hamlet itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 20 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images from the site's shared Ottawa library, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. None of them is presented as a photograph of Blackburn Hamlet.