15-minute neighbourhoods – where people can live and work means affordable housing for staff

News & Updates

The best neighbourhoods are the ones you rarely need to leave.

In a 15-minute neighbourhood, home, work, groceries, and gathering places sit within a short walk. Life feels a little less rushed, and a lot more connected. Mainstreets stay busy through the day, not just at rush hour.

There is a quieter benefit, too. When people can work close to where they live, the staff who keep our shops, cafés, and restaurants running can actually afford to live nearby.

Business Improvement Areas help make this possible. Through streetscape improvements, events, and support for mixed-use, walkable districts, BIAs help build neighbourhoods where housing, jobs, and small businesses grow side by side.

Complete communities are not only convenient. They are more affordable, more connected, and more resilient.

When people can live and work in the same neighbourhood, everyone benefits.

What Ottawa’s Mainstreets are watching for in 2026

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OCOBIA Chair Nathalie Carrier Receives Ottawa 200th Anniversary Medal

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