Ottawa Population 2024

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada and is situated in the southern part of the province of Ontario. It shares its borders with Gatineau, Quebec, and together they form the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2021, the city of Ottawa City had a population of 1,017,449 and the metropolitan area had a population of 1,488,307, making it the fourth-largest city and metropolitan area in Canada.

The Estimated population of Ottawa City in 2024 is 1.1 million

Ottawa City	Census 2021
Population	1,017,449
Total area	2,788.2 sq. km (1,076.5 sq mi)
Population density	364.9/ sq. km (945.1/sq mi)

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Ottawa Metro Population (CMA)

Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2021, the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of 1,488,307 living in 604,721 of its 638,013 total private dwellings, a change of 8.5% from its 2016 population of 1,371,576.

Ottawa–Gatineau CMA	Census 2021
Population	1,488,307 (1.5 million)
Total area	8,046.99 sq. km (3,106.96 sq mi)
Population density	185.0/ sq. km (479.0/sq mi)

Ottawa Historical Population

In 1900 the Ottawa City population was just 100,000 people. It reached half a million in 1975 and 1 million in 2021.

Ottawa Historical Population Chart

Year	Population	Percentage
1901	101,102	–
1911	123,417	22.10%
1921	152,868	23.90%
1931	174,056	13.90%
1941	206,367	18.60%
1951	246,298	19.30%
1956	287,244	16.60%
1961	358,410	24.80%
1966	413,695	15.40%
1971	471,931	14.10%
1976	520,533	10.30%
1981	546,849	5.10%
1986	606,639	10.90%
1991	678,147	11.80%
1996	721,136	6.30%
2001	774,072	7.30%
2006	812,129	4.90%
2011	883,391	8.80%
2016	934,243	5.80%
2021	1,017,449	8.90%

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Ethnicity in Ottawa

The largest ethnic group in Ottawa CMA is of European origin, consisting mainly of people of Irish, French, Scottish, English, and German ancestry. In terms of visible minorities, the Chinese make up the largest group, followed by Indians and Arabs.

Panethnic group	Pop. 2021	Percentage
European	1,036,525	70.78%
African	114,225	7.80%
Middle Eastern	83,730	5.72%
South Asian	60,780	4.15%
East Asian	57,460	3.92%
Indigenous	46,540	3.18%
Southeast Asian	32,995	2.25%
Latin American	20,625	1.41%
Other/Multiracial	17,095	1.17%

Top 25 Ethnicities in Ottawa

#	Ethnicity	Population	Percentage
1	Irish	256,320	17.50%
2	French	251,310	17.16%
3	Canadian	233,275	15.93%
4	Scottish	204,170	13.94%
5	English	196,190	13.40%
6	German	95,715	6.54%
7	French Canadian	63,455	4.33%
8	Italian	55,950	3.82%
9	First Nations (North American Indian) origins	52,755	3.60%
10	Chinese	52,455	3.58%
11	Polish	37,120	2.53%
12	Indian (India)	33,800	2.31%
13	Dutch	32,670	2.23%
14	Lebanese	29,515	2.02%
15	Ukrainian	28,295	1.93%
16	Arabs	25,195	1.72%
17	Welsh	19,960	1.36%
18	Filipino	16,170	1.10%
19	Russian	15,470	1.06%
20	Spanish	15,110	1.03%
21	Portuguese	15,040	1.03%
22	Haitian	14,455	0.99%
23	American	14,170	0.97%
24	Jewish	11,870	0.81%
25	Vietnamese	11,170	0.76%

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Ottawa Population 2024 | Race and Ethnicity in Ottawa