The east end
Across the Rideau: Vanier's francophone blocks, the official residences in Rockcliffe Park, the escarpment at Beacon Hill, and a hundred thousand people in Orléans.
Photograph: North River Road, Vanier · Ross Dunn · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source7 neighbourhoods east of the Rideau River. Vanier is the most francophone neighbourhood in the city and its cheapest inner-city address, a kilometre from Parliament Hill. New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park hold Rideau Hall, the Prime Minister's official residence at 24 Sussex and most of the ambassadors. The wealthiest square kilometre in Ottawa and one of the quietest. Beacon Hill is 1950s and 1960s subdivision on the escarpment above the river. And Orléans, past the Greenbelt, is a hundred thousand people and the largest francophone suburb outside Quebec.
The east end is where Ottawa's language politics are most visible in ordinary life: French-first schools, French-first services, and in Vanier and Orléans a genuine expectation that you will be served in either language. It is also where the transit story is most frustrating. The Line 1 east extension to Trim: 12.5 kilometres and five stations through the middle of Orléans. Has been physically finished and signed for months, and as of August 2026 has no opening date. Until it opens, Orléans commutes by bus on Highway 174, and the value of an address there depends heavily on which side of that eventually you are betting on.
7 communities, guide by guide
Beacon Hill
Postwar and 1960s subdivisions on the escarpment above the Ottawa River, next door to the National Research Council and the Aviation Museum.
- 17,554
- Residents of the Beacon Hill South – Cardinal Heights and Rothwell Heights – Beacon Hill North ONS neighbourhoods
- 1960s–70s
- When the neighbourhood was built, as part of the City of Gloucester
Blackburn Hamlet
A 1960s planned village dropped into the Greenbelt east of the city, with a green belt on all four sides and one road in.
- 8,172
- Residents of the Blackburn Hamlet ONS neighbourhood (ONS Gen 2, retrieved 2026)
- 9,980
- The population peak, reached in 1981, since when the village has slowly shrunk
Carson Grove
A 1971 Campeau subdivision off the Aviation Parkway beside the former air base, the closest thing the east end has to a walk-to-work suburb for the research campuses on either side of it.
- 10,694
- Residents of the Carson Grove - Carson Meadows ONS neighbourhood (ONS Gen 2, retrieved 2026)
- 6,200
- Residents the 2016 census counted in the two named subdivisions themselves
New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park
Rideau Hall, the Prime Minister's official residence and the ambassadors' streets. The wealthiest square kilometre in the city, and one of the quietest.
- 6,841
- Residents of the Lindenlea – New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park ONS neighbourhoods
- 1829
- Year Thomas McKay founded New Edinburgh at the junction of the two rivers
Orléans
A hundred thousand people in the far east end, the largest francophone suburb outside Quebec, and an LRT extension that has been finished and unopened for months.
- 102,381
- Residents of the eight Orléans ONS neighbourhoods covered here
- 1858
- Year Luc Major registered the first subdivision plan, founding the village of St. Joseph
Overbrook
The largest uncovered neighbourhood in Ottawa, a Rideau River flat between the river and the tracks that is being rebuilt around the new Hurdman and Tremblay stations.
- 19,599
- Residents of the Overbrook - McArthur ONS neighbourhood (ONS Gen 2, retrieved 2026)
- 1922
- Year Overbrook became a police village, run by three trustees elected annually
Vanier
The most francophone neighbourhood in Ottawa and the cheapest inner-city address, a kilometre from Parliament Hill and priced as though it were much further.
- 16,393
- Residents of the Vanier North and Vanier South ONS neighbourhoods
- $1,518
- Average two-bedroom purpose-built rent. The lowest of any Ottawa zone (CMHC, October 2025)
Photographs: NRC M12 Ottawa by Dlanglois, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · Mer Bleue Bog by Dwong33, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons · Carson Grove Park, Ottawa by Earl Andrew, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · The Stone Circle on the Rockcliffe Park village green by Anna Litickle, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · Orléans in 1982 by The Webhamster from Ottawa, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons · Ottawa Stadium ticket booth and entrance by Michael M Stokes, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.