Ottawa Career Counselling & Career Coaching Service

As Canada's capital city, Ottawa is a member of the G8 group of cities.  It is the second largest city in Ontario (by population) and is the fourth largest city in Canada with a population of 1.33 million people. Ottawa is geographically spread out, and is actually larger than Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. 

The Ottawa Economic Region spans Leeds and Grenville, Lanark, Prescott and Russell, Dundas and Glengarry counties and is anchored by the Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). The economy is largely based on the federal government as well as the high technology industry within metro Ottawa, while manufacturing and agriculture are the larger industries within the more rural regions.

Ottawa has the highest standard of living across Canadian cities, as well as the most educated population. Culture and arts are recognized here, along with several research institutions being located here. Ottawa hosts several festivals throughout the year, including Winterlude, the largest Winter festival in Canada.

Ottawa receives the highest percentage of refugees and family-related immigration of any major Canadian centre, and attract people from all over the world due to high professional wages and excellent post-secondary institutions (Carleton University and The University of Ottawa). 

Ottawa is a diverse city with over 20% of the population being born in another country. As well, 75% of the population growth from 1987 to 2002 were people that relocated to Ottawa. 23% of the population are visible minorities.In 2004, the median family income in Ottawa-Gatineau was $73,500 --the highest in all of Canada.

Due to its status as the capital of Canada, and its close proximity to Quebec, Ottawa is truly a bilingual city, with both official languages represented in municipal government, in the media, and in business.

Sources: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa#Demographics
https://www.ottawatourism.ca/discover/about-ottawa/

One of the major growing sectors in Ottawa is the technology industry. Although many people think of Toronto when they think of the Canadian tech sector, Ottawa is actually the city that currently has the greatest momentum when it comes to a growing tech sector. Looking at the tech sector growth over the past two years, Ottawa has been ranked #1 in growth amongst North American tech hubs.

The federal government is another major sector in Ottawa. Ottawa is where Canada’s federal government is located. People move from all over the country for jobs within the federal government.

 The real estate market is starting to grow in Ottawa as well. Although cities like Toronto and Vancouver have seen the highest growth in Canada, Ottawa is catching up here. Real estate, along with finance and insurance, contributes 10.4% of the Ottawa GDP.

Ottawa has several large hospitals and over 18,000 people in Ottawa are employed in the healthcare sector. In addition to hospitals, Ottawa is also home to several health research institutes.

The tourism industry in Ottawa also plays a big role. Ottawa is the seat of the Canadian federal government, so many people come to visit this city to learn more about the capital city.

Sources:
https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/budget/financial-reports-and-statements/long-range-financial-plans/long-range-financial-plan-iii-part-1-and-part-2/economy-and-demographics
https://obj.ca/article/ottawa-ranked-top-north-america-rapid-tech-employment-growth

The major industries, which account for almost 40% of Ottawa's economy are high technology and the federal government. High technology employs almost 70, 000 people, with 1700 companies; many of these (1450) employ fewer than 50 employees. The cities technology companies cover a variety of sectors such as Aerospace and Defence, eBusiness, Telecommunications and Cleantech (Source: InvestOttawa.ca). Many newspapers report that there is a talent shortage within the high-tech industry in Ottawa.

As of 2011, 315,500 federal government employees worked in a census metropolitan area (CMA), which accounts for 75% of all federal workers in Canada (Source: StasCan). Within Ottawa itself, 120,000 jobs are within the federal government, and is forecasted to continue growing with the Liberal government in power.

There are more than 140 life sciences companies in Ottawa, as well as 10 hospitals, largely focused on research with a budget of over $155M each year (InvestOttawa.ca). As the most educated city in Canada, Ottawa boasts 6 post secondary institutions, which offer studies in both English and French. These include: Carleton University, The University of Ottawa, Saint Paul University, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology and La Cité collégiale (OttawaLiving.ca).

Tourism is also a key industry, with many wishing to tour the government buildings, as well as the many art galleries of Ottawa. Many that visit Ottawa (85%) are fellow Canadians, and this industry account for $1.3B each year, employing almost 25,000 people in the city (Ottawa.ca). The city hosts several festivals, including North America's largest country music festival, Canada's largest and North America's second largest blues festival, and the world's largest hockey tournament.

Other major industries include: finance, real estate, trade and construction.