The CBC Ottawa Production Centre is an office and studio complex the serves as the headquarters of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. It is located on Queen Street in the

downtown core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

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. The building hosts the originating studios for both the CBC's

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

-language and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-language operations in the National Capital Region. The building was opened in 2004, and contains approximately of office space.

Design and construction

The building that houses the Ottawa Production Centre was built by Morguard Investments. Not all of it is leased by the CBC, with the top floors occupied by the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

administration (Information Services). It is located at 181 Queen Street, between Bank Street and

O'Connor Street O'Connor Street is a downtown arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a north–south route, operating one way southbound, providing a key thoroughfare parallel to Bank Street. The roadway begins at Wellington Street, at Parliament Hil ...

(across from the Confederation Line

light rail station A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...

) in the city's

. The rear of the building backs out on the

Sparks Street Sparks Street () is a pedestrian mall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a main street in Ottawa that was converted into an outdoor pedestrian street in 1967, making it the earliest such street or mall in Canada.Woolworth's department store. Several of the studios and the newsroom are located at ground level on Sparks Street, allowing the public to observe from outside through high windows. Eight different

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

services, consisting of 200 editorial staff in the National Capital Region, operate in both English and French out of the main newsroom to produce content for radio, television and the internet. The main design feature of the Production Centre is that it appears as a typical multi-storey office building on the Queen Street frontage, whereas the Sparks Street frontage is consistent with the low-rise development on the pedestrian mall. Given the significant terracing of the building's Sparks Street façade above the fourth floor and the grade differential between Queen Street and Sparks Street, the building is 12 storeys on Queen Street, but appears to be only four storeys in height from ground level on Sparks Street. CBC - Sparks

Although the building was designed to revitalize Sparks Street, critic Rhys Phillips described the building as "just another low-cost, banal building." Visitors and non-CBC employees working on the building's upper floors must access the building from Queen Street, thus directing pedestrians away from the pedestrian mall. A pathway linking the Queen Street lobby to Sparks Street was cut from the original design to make room for a larger newsroom. Councillor

Diane Holmes Diane Holmes (born c. 1939) is a former Ottawa City Councillor representing Somerset Ward which consists of Centretown, Centretown West and the downtown core. She was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, and graduated from McGill University w ...

called the building "the biggest disappointment" and "a whole block of deadness." In March 2024, it was announced that

Morguard Corporation Morguard Corporation is a Canadian real estate company, based in Mississauga, Ontario. It owns retail, residential, office, industrial, and hotel properties, as well as managing real estate and financial investments for institutional investors. ...

sold the building to

Public Services and Procurement Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC; ),''Public Services and Procurement Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Public Works and Government Services (). formerly Public Works ...

for 125.3 million.

CBC services based in the building

* Radio **

CBO-FM CBO-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Ottawa, Ontario, airing at 91.5 FM, and serves much of Eastern Ontario through a network of relay transmitters. CBO's Ottawa-area transmitter is located in Camp Fortune, Queb ...

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

CBOF-FM CBOF-FM (90.7 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It airs a French language news/talk format, much of which comes from the Ici Radio-Canada Première network. The studios and offices are located at the CBC ...

Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of ...

CBOQ-FM CBOQ-FM is a Canadian radio station. It broadcasts the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CBC Music network at 103.3 FM in Ottawa, Ontario. CBOQ's studios are located in the CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre on Queen Street (across from the O-Train ...

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

CBOX-FM CBOX-FM (102.5 MHz) is a non-commercial French-language radio station. It broadcasts the Société Radio-Canada's Ici Musique network in Ottawa, Ontario. CBOX's studios are located in the CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre on Queen Street (across from ...

Ici Musique Ici Musique (stylized ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (''Société Radio-Canada''). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Music, altho ...

* Television **

CBOFT-DT CBOFT-DT (channel 9) is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the National Capital Region. It is part of a twinstick with CBC Television station CBOT-DT (channel 4). The two stations share studios at the CBC Ott ...

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...

CBOT-DT CBOT-DT (channel 4) is a CBC Television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the National Capital Region. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBOFT-DT (channel 9). The two stations share studios at the CBC Ot ...

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

** Studios for CBC Television,

CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It is Canada's first all-news channel, and the world's third-oldest television service of this ...

and

political programming, including ''

Power & Politics ''Power & Politics'' is a Canadian television news program focused on national politics, which airs live daily on CBC News Network from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time weekdays and as a syndicated podcast. The program is produced from the CBC Ott ...

'', ''

Rosemary Barton Live ''Rosemary Barton Live'' is a Canadian television Sunday morning talk show, which premiered November 1, 2020, on CBC News Network and CBC Television. Hosted by Rosemary Barton, it is a live news and talk show covering political topics. The se ...

'' and '' Les Coulisses du pouvoir''

Former CBC offices and studios in Ottawa

Previously, the CBC operated out of various buildings throughout the city. The radio division occupied the sixth floor of the

Château Laurier The Fairmont Château Laurier is a hotel with 429 guest rooms in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive, it is designed in a French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to co ...

hotel, while the television division operated out of the Graham Spry Building in the

Westboro Westboro may refer to: Places Canada *Westboro, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood ** Westboro Station (OC Transpo), an OC Transpo Transitway Station United States * Westboro (Topeka), Kansas, a residential neighborhood * Westboro, Missouri * Westbo ...

neighbourhood. The CBC's Parliamentary Bureau operated out of the National Press Building on Wellington Street and the Booth Building on Sparks Street. The CBC head office previously occupied

1500 Bronson Avenue 1500 Bronson Avenue, (formerly the CBC Building, and the Edward Drake Building) is a modernist office building in Ottawa, Ontario, owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada. It was designed by CBC's chief architect David Gordon McKinstry and ...

in Ottawa south, but budgetary cutbacks in the 1980s and 1990s led to the sale of that building and to a drastic downsizing of the head office staff. Prior to the opening of the Production Centre, the remaining head office staff shared space with the television operations in the Westboro building.

References

External links

View of the CBC Ottawa Building from street level on Sparks Street

View of the CBC Ottawa Building from above, showing the terracing of the upper floors facing Sparks Street
{{CBC Television Ottawa Broadcast Centre Buildings and structures completed in 2004 Office buildings in Ottawa Mass media company headquarters in Canada Federal government buildings in Ottawa

Design and construction

CBC services based in the building

Former CBC offices and studios in Ottawa

See also

References

External links