Ottawa Leisure

Ottawa is a city with a great sporting infrastructure and whether as a holidaymaker, you like to get active or sit back, relax and watch someone else work up a sweat; the opportunities for sport here are plentiful. With snow and ice sports forming such an integral part of the city’s appeal in the winter months and the local football team attracting impressive crowds in the warm season, sporty visitors will find Ottawa the perfect holiday destination.

Spectator sports

Ottawa offers a good selection of spectator sports, with various local teams offering fast-paced action at a number of high profile venues. Ice hockey games, for example, are played by the city’s home team, the Ottawa Senetors, at the Corel Centre, while a smaller team, the Ottawa 67s, play at the Civic Centre; both teams have a good local fan base and games are always exceedingly well-attended.

For football fans, meanwhile, the Ottawa Renegades play games in the Canada Football League; their stadium has a capacity for 28,000 spectators and games are invariably well-attended.

Participant sports

Sports and leisure opportunities for those preferring to get involved as opposed to watching are plentiful in Ottawa, although many sports are reliant to some degree on the seasons and the weather conditions.

Come winter, there are myriad choices available, with the obvious snow sports such as skiing and snowboarding topping the list. If you prefer to stay closer to the city, then you’ll find the cold weather permits ice skating at a number of locations, with the Rideau Canal being the most popular and claiming the title of the world’s longest skating rink.

When the warm weather arrives, the same canal is a haven for boating fans, offering opportunities for vessels of all kinds to take to the water and enjoy the city and its surrounding scenery.