As you’d expect from the capital of Canada, Ottawa has a lively entertainment scene with plenty of choices to appeal to almost everyone.
From sports to culture and heritage to music, whatever you want to do you’ll enjoy it here. And now there is also a fast-growing online scene too for anyone who wants to get their leisure opportunities without having to stary too far from the comfort of their own home. In this article we’ll take a quick look at some of the places to go and things to see in this vibrant city across the year.
Music
Whether you’re a classical buff or your tastes are a little more contemporary, this will be music to your ears. There are countless venues across the city for music fans.
Southam Hall is the true jewel in the city’s musical crown. Named after the founding general director of the National Arts Centre G. Hamilton Southam, this 2000+ capacity venue plays host to a whole range of performances throughout the year from opera to ballet and classical concerts. Another major venue in the city is the Canadian Tire Centre where you’ll find a calendar packed with everything from major rock bands to top comedians. As the home of the Ottawa Senators hockey team – more about them later – it also hosts ice spectaculars such as Disney On Ice.
Smaller, more intimate venues also abound across the city with many bars featuring live music with the House of Targ and the three different Heart & Crown venues being particular favorites with Ottowans. There’s also a lively music festivals scene with all genres represented at annual events including Bluesfest, Cityfolk and the Ottawa International Jazz Festival that attracts the cream of the world’s performers year after year.
Sport
While the Ottawa Senators might not always delight their fans with their performances, their games at the Canadian Tire Centre always make for an entertaining spectacle. The city also has a professional women’s hockey team in Ottawa Charge who play their home games at TD Place Arena.
With the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada in Summer 2026 it should also help to stimulate even more interest than before in the city’s soccer team the Atletico Ottawa and for fans of gridiron the Ottawa Redbacks play in the Canadian Football League. With other teams playing basketball, lacrosse and baseball, there’s a comprehensive range of sports for fans to enjoy.
Museums and culture
You’ll also find many of the country’s most important and significant museums and galleries within the city limits. First and foremost there’s the Canadian Museum of History. Its brutalist design, courtesy of architect Douglas Cardinal, is intended to be as just as striking as any of the exhibits it contains. These include fascinating examinations of ethnography, anthropology and history as well as the official Canadian Children’s Museum and the Canadian Stamp Collection.
The National Gallery of Canada also has its home in the city. It houses a collection of over 93,000 pieces including paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs. Many of the works are by Canadian artists and there is also a European, American and Asian collection featuring masterpieces by Monet, Van Gogh, Chagall and Rembrandt.
One of the more fascinating places to visit, certainly for anyone interested in more recent history, is the Diefenbunker. It was excavated at the height of the Cold War with Russia as a communications centre. After the immediate risk had passed it was converted into a four-story underground museum to tell the story of a very uneasy period in history which it does with super exhibitions and interactive exhibits.
Online gambling
A relative newcomer on the entertainment scene has been the arrival of online casinos for Ottowans to enjoy. This has followed on from Ontario’s ground-breaking move to licence and permit online operators to offer their services under the watchful eye of iGaming Ontario.
As a result there are now almost 40 online casino operators covering over 90 brands. This has also given rise to the emergence of sites like Casino.org which rate and review the different Canadian online casinos to help players pick the best ones for them.
Many players, used to going to brick and mortar casinos, of which Ottawa has several, have stated to find that the online ones are good alternatives. They offer the same kinds of games that can often be played “live” and are generally more convenient to attend. So, in the same way that streaming services like Netflix have hit cinema attendance, this seems to be a comparable situation.
However there remains plenty for Ottawans wanting to get out and about to enjoy, whether it’s watching top music acts, supporting their sports team or learning more about the country’s history – and many people continue to do this every single day.
