New Edinburgh (satellite view) is a small historic neighbourhood in a unique setting in Ottawa, Canada, just east of the downtown core. It is bordered on the west by the Rideau River, to the north by the Ottawa River, to the south by Beechwood Avenue, and to the east the border is less regular but is marked in part by Springfield Road and Maple Lane.
Featuring two significant green spaces – Stanley Park along the Rideau River (including a recently renamed portion, New Edinburgh Park) and the Governor General’s grounds – New Edinburgh is home to Rideau Hall, the Governor General of Canada’s large residence, and 24 Sussex Drive, the residence of the Prime Minister. Several embassies are also located in the neighbourhood, including those of France, Spain, Slovakia and Vietnam, as well as the high commissions of India and of South Africa.
One of Ottawa’s oldest villages, New Edinburgh is an example of a planned residential neighbourhood, founded in 1832 and incorporated as a village in 1866. Today it features 150 homes dating from the 19th century, as well as churches, schools, parks, retirement homes and local businesses. An unusual feature of the community are its lanes. It has a population of 3,539 as of the 2016 census.
With its historic and green character, New Edinburgh feels like a small village within a larger city. The neighbourhood tends to attract people from varying backgrounds, including artists, writers, bureaucrats, diplomats, young families and retirees.
Given its unique sense of place, New Edinburgh inspires residents and advocates to tackle critical issues. Over the years, these issues have included stopping the proposed Vanier Parkway Extension in the 1990s (which would have destroyed a large part of Stanley Park); campaigning for the grounds of Rideau Hall to be reopened to the public in the 1980s; and demanding community engagement and remediation of Stanley Park after the massive Combined Sewage Storage Tunnel (CSST) project.
To discover the origins of New Edinburgh and its close connection to Ottawa’s history as the capital, read Our History.
