Laurier Avenue (; Ottawa Road #48) is a central east west street running through

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Originally known as "Maria Street" (west of Waller) and "Theodore Street" (east of Waller), it was renamed in honour of Canadian

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...

Laurier House Laurier House () is a National Historic Site in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (in the Sandy Hill district). It was formerly the residence of two Canadian prime ministers: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (for whom the house is named) and William Lyon Mackenzie Ki ...

, the residence of Prime Ministers Laurier and

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

, is located at the corner of Laurier Avenue East and Chapel Street.

Route

;Bronson Avenue to the Rideau Canal Laurier runs through the heart of

downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the east, ...

. The south side of Laurier from Bronson east is almost all high-rises, starting with residential towers at Bronson, and commercial and government office buildings further to the east. Located on the south side of Laurier, between Bank Street and O'Connor is the main building of the Canadian Department of Finance. The main branch of the

Ottawa Public Library The Ottawa Public Library (OPL; ) is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The library was founded in 1906 with a donation from the Carnegie Foundation. Services * Information and reference services * Access to full text databases * C ...

is located at the intersection of Laurier and Metcalfe, and

Ottawa City Hall The current Ottawa City Hall () is the city hall of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The downtown complex consists of two connected buildings: a modern wing located on Laurier Avenue and a 19th-century heritage wing located on Elgin Street. Although ...

is on the south side of Laurier between Elgin Street and Queen Elizabeth Driveway. Next door to Ottawa City Hall is Cartier Square Drill Hall, from which the daily 'Changing of the Guard' procession begins. The north side of Laurier, across from City Hall, is

Confederation Square Confederation Square () is an urban square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is considered the second most important ceremonial centre in Canada's capital city, after Parliament Hill. Roughly triangular in area, with Canada's National War Mem ...

. Laurier Avenue was selected in 2011 as the first street in Ottawa to feature a fully segregated bike lane. ;Rideau Canal to Rideau River The street crosses the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

over the Laurier Avenue Bridge and passes the Department of National Defence Headquarters before heading through the campus of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. It then goes through the neighbourhood of Sandy Hill, passing near many embassies. The embassy of Iraq (previously the embassy of Angola) is prominent on the corner of Laurier and King Edward. The street finally ends at Charlotte just before it meets the

Rideau River The Rideau River (, ) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writing by Samuel de Champl ...

, at Strathcona Park, quite near to the Russian embassy.

References

External links

{{Ottawa Roads Roads in Ottawa