1.
Ottawa
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Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It stands on the bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, the two form the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area and the National Capital Region. The 2016 census reported a population of 934,243, making it the fourth-largest city in Canada, the City of Ottawa reported that the city had an estimated population of 960,754 as of December 2015. Founded in 1826 as Bytown, and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, the city name Ottawa was chosen in reference to the Ottawa River nearby, the name of which is derived from the Algonquin Odawa, meaning to trade. The city is the most educated in Canada, and is home to a number of post-secondary, research, and cultural institutions, including the National Arts Centre, Ottawa also has the highest standard of living in the nation and low unemployment. It ranked second out of 150 worldwide in the Numbeo quality of life index 2014–2015, with the draining of the Champlain Sea around ten thousand years ago the Ottawa Valley became habitable. The area was used for wild harvesting, hunting, fishing, trade, travel. The Ottawa river valley has archaeological sites with arrow heads, pottery, the area has three major rivers that meet, making it an important trade and travel area for thousands of years. The Algonquins called the Ottawa River Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi meaning Great River or Grand River, Étienne Brûlé, the first European to travel up the Ottawa River, passed by Ottawa in 1610 on his way to the Great Lakes. Three years later, Samuel de Champlain wrote about the waterfalls of the area and about his encounters with the Algonquins, the early explorers and traders were later followed by many missionaries. The first maps of the area used the word Ottawa to name the river, philemon Wright, a New Englander, created the first settlement in the area on 7 March 1800 on the north side of the river, across from Ottawa in Hull. He, with five other families and twenty-five labourers, set about to create a community called Wrightsville. Wright pioneered the Ottawa Valley timber trade by transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Quebec City, the following year, the town would soon be named after British military engineer Colonel John By who was responsible for the entire Rideau Waterway construction project. Colonel By set up military barracks on the site of todays Parliament Hill and he also laid out the streets of the town and created two distinct neighbourhoods named Upper Town west of the canal and Lower Town east of the canal. Similar to its Upper Canada and Lower Canada namesakes, historically Upper Town was predominantly English speaking and Protestant whereas Lower Town was predominantly French, Irish, bytowns population grew to 1,000 as the Rideau Canal was being completed in 1832. In 1855 Bytown was renamed Ottawa and incorporated as a city, William Pittman Lett was installed as the first city clerk guiding it through 36 years of development. On New Years Eve 1857, Queen Victoria, as a symbolic, in reality, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald had assigned this selection process to the Executive Branch of the Government, as previous attempts to arrive at a consensus had ended in deadlock
2.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
3.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
4.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
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Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Canadian operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Many of these hotels were built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The first hotel to bear the Fairmont name is located in the city of San Francisco, the nearly completed structure survived the earthquake of 1906. Although heavily damaged by the subsequent fires, the hotel was renovated under the eye of architect Julia Morgan and it was later acquired by Benjamin Swig in 1945. Starting in the 1960s, Fairmont began developing a chain of luxury hotels in major cities across the United States. After purchasing Fairmont in 1999, Canadian Pacific Limited split into five companies in a 2001 starburst move designed to increase the valuations of its individual divisions. The former Canadian Pacific Hotels division took on the name of the much smaller Fairmont chain to reflect the new focus of the new company. In 2004, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. paid $70 million to take control of the management company that runs its properties. Fairmont completed the acquisition of the 16.5 per cent stake in the Fairmont management company from U. S. -based Maritz Wolff & Co. for about $70 million. The management company partnership stemmed from a deal that saw Fairmonts predecessor company, Canadian Pacific Hotels and that transaction led, in 2001, to the creation and IPO of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, a Toronto-based owner of luxury hotel properties. The new hotel management company created was 67 per cent owned by Fairmont, Kingdom disposed of its stake the partnership in return for Fairmont parent stock in 2002, leaving Maritz Wolff as the remaining partner. Two months later, the U. S. company triggered an option under the original deal that created the management company. In October 2005, Fairmont dipped to a low of $35. 53–37 cents lower than its closing price on its debut in August 2001. In early 2006, after a bidding war started by investor Carl Icahn. Icahn lost the bid and Fairmont agreed to be sold for $3.9 billion USD, to Colony Capital, LLC and Saudi Arabias Kingdom Hotels International. At the time of the purchase, FRHI also owned Canadas Delta Hotels & Resorts, however, Delta was sold on 2 October 2007 to bcIMC, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. In October 2008, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was named one of Canadas Top 100 Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc. and was featured in Macleans newsmagazine, later that month, it was also named one of Greater Torontos Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper. In April 2010, Kingdom Hotels sold part of its stake in Raffles Holdings International in a deal worth about $847 million, to a group of investors, including an affiliate of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund
5.
Bradford Gilbert
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Bradford Lee Gilbert was a nationally-active architect based in New York City. Gilbert is best known for designing the first steel-framed curtain wall building in New York, the Tower Building, the Tower Building is considered New York Citys first skyscraper. There is some dispute as to whether the Tower Building had eleven or thirteen floors, depending on which floors were counted and it had to have the steel-frame construction because on its narrow lot, masonry-supporting walls would have allowed almost no free space on the first floor. Gilberts design used the frame as a railroad bridge. The Tower Building was initially greeted with skepticism, with members of the public predicting it would blow over. This prompted Gilbert to scale the building in the middle of an 1889 hurricane to demonstrate with a line that the building was not vibrating. The building was razed in 1914, born in Watertown, New York, Gilbert had been appointed architect of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad by the age of 23. Among his extensive work for multiple railroads across the country, Gilbert also designed a version of New York Citys Grand Central Terminal in 1898. Gilbert was also the architect for the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition. Gilbert died at his home in Brooklyn in 1911. R. L, passenger Station, Bernardsville, New Jersey,1901 William G. Mr. Gilbert was first married in 1871 in New York to Cora, daughter of Captain John Rathbone. After his divorce, he married his wife, Maria McAuley, widow of Jerry McAuley in 1892 in Cranford, New Jersey On February 12,1896, Bradford. George E. Archer Frank J. Nies, DL&W Railroad contemporary Bradford Lee Gilbert history site
6.
Ross and Macdonald
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Ross and Macdonald was one of Canadas most notable architecture firms in the early 20th century. Based in Montreal, Quebec, the firm operated as a partnership between George Allen Ross and David MacFarlane from 1907 to 1912. MacFarlane withdrew from the firm in 1912, and Robert Henry Macdonald became a partner, the Ross and Macdonald name was used until 1944, after which it became Ross & Ross, Architects, when John Kenneth Ross joined his father as partner. Following George Allen Rosss death in 1946, the firm continued as Ross, Patterson, by 1970, the firm was known as Ross, Fish, Duschenes & Barrett. Ross was born in Montreal, and later studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ross was apprenticed to Brown, MacVicar & Heriot in Montreal, and later become a draftsman for the Grand Trunk Railway. He also did work with Parker & Thomas in Boston and Carrere & Hastings in New York before partnering with MacFarlane in Montreal and he was a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He was also a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, becoming an Associate in 1904, Macdonald was born in Melbourne, Australia. Whitaker, M. S. A. of Melbourne, after positions as a draftsman for George B. Post starting in 1903, a draftsman with Crighton & McKay in Wellington, New Zealand in 1905. Bosworth in New York in 1906, Macdonald joined Ross and MacFarlane in Montreal as a junior partner and he ultimately became a partner of the firm in 1912. He was a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and he served as president of the Quebec Association of Architects in 1939, and was a recipient of the associations Award of Merit
7.
National Historic Sites of Canada
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Parks Canada, a federal agency, manages the National Historic Sites program. As of 2016, there are 976 National Historic Sites,171 of which are administered by Parks Canada, the sites are located across all ten provinces and three territories, with two sites located in France. There are related federal designations for National Historic Persons and National Historic Events, Sites, Events, and Persons are each typically marked by a federal plaque, but the markers do not indicate which designation a subject has been given. The Rideau Canal is a National Historic Site, while the Welland Canal is a National Historic Event, emerging Canadian nationalist sentiment in the late 19th century and early 20th century led to an increased interest in preserving Canadas historic sites. There were galvanizing precedents in other countries, in the United Kingdom, the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty was created in 1894 to protect that countrys historic and natural heritage. Domestically, Lord Dufferin, the Governor General from 1872 to 1878, initiated some of the earliest, high-profile efforts to preserve Canadas historic sites. He was instrumental in stopping the demolition of the fortifications of Quebec City, at the same time, the federal government was looking for ways to extend the National Park system to Eastern Canada. In 1914, the Parks Branch undertook a survey of sites in Canada. Fort Howe in Saint John, New Brunswick was designated a historic park in 1914. The fort was not a site of significant national historic importance, Fort Anne in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia was also designated in 1917. At the same time, the Department of Militia and Defence was anxious to transfer old forts, harkin, the first Commissioner of Dominion Parks, to develop a departmental heritage policy. On Harkins recommendation, the government created the Advisory Board for Historic Site Preservation in 1919 in order to advise the Minister on a new program of National Historic Sites. Brigadier General Ernest Alexander Cruikshank, an authority on the War of 1812 and the history of Ontario, was chosen as the Boards first chairman. Due to a lack of resources, the HSMBC limited itself to recommending sites for designation, of the 285 National Historic Sites designated by 1943,105 represented military history,52 represented the fur trade and exploration, and 43 represented famous individuals. There was also a strong bias in favour of commemorating sites in Ontario over other parts of the country, at one point, some members of the HSMBC concluded that there were no sites at all in Prince Edward Island worthy of designation. Lawrence, and in Niagara, promoting a loyalist doctrine of unity with Britain. Proposals to designate sites related to the immigration of Jews, Blacks and Ukrainians to Canada were rejected, such was the view of Canadian history by the Board in the first half of the 20th century. As time passed and the system grew, the scope of the program, by the 1930s, the focus of the heritage movement in Canada had shifted from commemoration to preservation and development
8.
Hotel
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A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities, Hotel rooms are usually numbered to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms, some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food, in Japan, capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities. The precursor to the hotel was the inn of medieval Europe. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, inns began to cater to richer clients in the mid-18th century. One of the first hotels in a sense was opened in Exeter in 1768. Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the early 19th century, Hotel operations vary in size, function, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set standards to classify hotel types. Full service hotels often contain upscale full-service facilities with a number of full service accommodations, an on-site full service restaurant. Boutique hotels are independent, non-branded hotels that often contain upscale facilities. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments offer a limited amount of on-site amenities, economy hotels are small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer basic accommodations with little to no services. Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer full service accommodations compared to a traditional hotel. Timeshare and destination clubs are a form of property ownership involving ownership of a unit of accommodation for seasonal usage. A motel is a small-sized low-rise lodging with direct access to rooms from the car park. Boutique hotels are typically hotels with an environment or intimate setting. A number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, some hotels are built specifically as a destination in itself, for example at casinos and holiday resorts. The organizational chart and volume of job positions and hierarchy varies by size, function and class
9.
Downtown Ottawa
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Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Like other downtowns it is the commercial and economic centre of the city and it is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawas financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the east, Gloucester Street to the south and this area and the residential neighbourhood to the south are also known locally as Centretown. The total population of the area is 4,876, downtown Ottawa is dominated by government buildings, including Parliament Hill and the Supreme Court. Most prominent buildings are situated along Wellington, Sparks and Elgin streets, most of the buildings are office towers containing the various government departments. While most of Ottawas high tech industry is based elsewhere it also has a significant presence in the downtown core, the downtown also contains a number of apartments, hotels, and condominiums as well as the older single family homes and townhouses along its edges. There are also many prominent heritage buildings along Sparks Street, the downtown employs about 100,000 people and currently holds around 20 million square feet of office space. Downtown Ottawa has a pattern of streets, aligned either east-west or north-south with a number of the streets being one way. From east to west, the prominent streets are Elgin Street, Metcalfe Street, OConnor Street, Bank Street, Kent Street, the northernmost east-west street that crosses downtown is Wellington Street, site of the parliamentary precinct, National Library and Archives, and Supreme Court. It is a major four-lane thoroughfare, to the east, it connects to Rideau Street, and to the west, the Ottawa River Parkway. South of Wellington is Sparks Street, most of which is a pedestrian mall closed to vehicles, the heritage district runs from Bank to Elgin, with CBC broadcast studios at Metcalfe and Sparks. The streets to the south are dominated by office and hotel towers, Queen Street, Albert Street, Slater Street, Laurier Avenue, the City of Ottawa zoning restricts and regulates development to allow high-rises north of Gloucester St. and affords heritage designation to some areas and buildings. Albert and Slater carry the Transitway through downtown, a new 12.5 kilometer light rail line, called the Confederation Line, is currently under construction. Part of it will tunnel under downtowns Queen street and travel east to Rideau Street, construction of the 2.1 billion dollar line, including the 2,5 kilometer subway tunnel should end in time for the 2017 celebration of Confederations 150th anniversary. The line should be operational by 2018, East of the canal, but west of King Edward Avenue, including the Rideau Centre and the Byward Market, is also normally considered downtown, and is referred to locally as Lowertown or Lower Town. The residential neighbourhoods around the business district are also generally referred to as being downtown. These include Centretown to the south and Sandy Hill and Lower Town to the east, north of the Ottawa River the centre of Gatineau, Quebec can be considered an extension of Ottawas downtown. According to the Canada 2016 Census, area defined as the part of Ottawa north of Gloucester Street, east of Bronson, south of the Ottawa River and west of the Rideau Canal
10.
Rideau Street
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Rideau Street is home to the Château Laurier, the CF Rideau Centre and the Government Conference Centre. Along with Wellington Street and Sussex Drive it was among the first streets in Ottawa to be host to businesses, the Plaza Bridge by the Rideau Canal is at its westmost point and the Cummings Bridge is at its eastmost point. For many years, Rideau Street was one of Ottawas primary retail thoroughfares, containing department stores such as Freimans, Ogilvys, Woolworth, Caplans, in November 1979, then mayor Marion Dewar examined a plan to create what became the Rideau Street Bus Mall. Sidewalks from Sussex to Dalhousie were enclosed in a continuous glass-and-steel structure, the heated mall was expected to allow pedestrians to shop in comfort year-round. However, the structure had an unanticipated down side, in that it attracted large numbers of homeless, many establishments along the affected stretch of Rideau Street failed as a result. The decision was made to tear the shelters down, and in the end the cost for dismantling them was almost as much as the $6.5 million incurred in their construction. Although the local department stores are gone, Rideau Street still features The Bay department store, the Rideau Centre shopping mall, the street had been designated Highway 17B before the Ontario government discontinued it in 1998. North of Rideau and west of King Edward is the commercial Byward Market area, to the south of Rideau Street is the Sandy Hill neighbourhood, with its mix of embassies, older houses, low- and high-rise apartment buildings, and student housing. A section of Rideau Street was closed to all traffic from June 8 to July 2,2016 after it collapsed in the vicinity of excavations being made for the Rideau station of the Confederation Line. Later that year on October 2, a much smaller sinkhole opened in the area as the June 8 sinkhole. 2014 sinkhole Rideau Street Chapel Sussex Drive Wallis House Wellington Street
National Historic Sites of Canada by location