Little Italy is a neighbourhood of

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, and the cultural centre of Ottawa's

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

community. Situated in Centretown West, it is bounded by Albert Street to the north,

Carling Avenue Carling Avenue is a major east–west arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from March Road in Kanata to Bronson Avenue in the Glebe. The road is named for John Carling, founder of Carling Brewery and Conservative M ...

to the south,

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

Line 2 to the west, and approximately

Bronson Avenue Bronson Avenue ( Ottawa Road #79) is a major north-south arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts at the south end as a continuation of the Airport Parkway, which is an expressway to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. It c ...

to the east, while the neighbourhood's main commercial area is along

Preston Street Preston Street may refer to: *Preston Street (Ottawa) *Preston Street (Baltimore) *A section of Kentucky Route 61 Kentucky Route 61 (KY 61) is a long Kentucky State Highway extending north from the Tennessee state line in Cumberland County to ...

. Little Italy is adjacent to

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

, whose business district centres on Somerset Street.

History

Little Italy was initially settled around 1900 by Italian immigrants. Following a fire at a small Murray Street chapel, the 1913 founding of St. Anthony of Padua Church at the corner of Booth Street and Gladstone Avenue cemented the immigrants' connections with the neighbourhood. Roughly between

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a second wave of Italian immigrants was joined by communities of Ukrainian and Polish immigrants in the area. In recent years with the integration of European immigrants, the neighbourhood has found itself home to Asian immigrants, primarily from China and Vietnam. In the 1960s a large section of the poorer neighbourhood was demolished, and replaced with the High School of Commerce, today the

Adult High School An adult high school or adult school is a high school facility designed for adult education. It is intended for adults who have not completed high school to continue their education. Some adult high schools offer child care, special integration prog ...

in 1967. Since 1975, each June the neighbourhood hosts the Italian Week festival, Ottawa's celebration of Italian culture. In 2018, Ottawa's tallest tower, the

Claridge Icon The Claridge Icon is a 45-storey condominium tower in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Carling Avenue and Preston Street (Ottawa), Preston Street in Little Italy, Ottawa, Little Italy. When the structure topped out in ...

, was built to the south end of the neighborhood at the intersection of Preston and Carling. Nearly a dozen projects are either proposed, approved or under construction, including three buildings that will claim the top three spots on the city's list of tallest buildings. These projects are fueled by a recent service improvement announcement for the O-Train Trillium Line which will result in an eight-minute headway between trains at Dow's Lake station as well as a new community design plan calling for high density near the transit station.

Culture

Two area streets have been given commemorative Italian street names.

Gladstone Avenue Gladstone Avenue is a street in Ottawa running east from the Rideau Canal west to Parkdale Avenue. It is a historically residential street running just south of the downtown core, with a number of small houses in the downtown section now converted ...

is also called ''Via Marconi'', and

is called ''Corso Italia''.

Gallery

Preston Street Ottawa.jpg, Archway entrance Prestonstreetlittleitaly.JPG, Preston Street is a major commercial street in Littly Italy St Anthony's Roman Catholic church Ottawa.jpg, St. Anthony of Padua is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in Little Italy

References

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External links

Corso Italia NewsPreston Street Business Improvement Area
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Il Postino Canada
{{authority control Ethnic enclaves in Ontario European-Canadian culture in Ontario Neighbourhoods in Ottawa