When Sylvie Bigras moved to the ByWard Market 40 years ago, the area was different than it is today.
Farmers still ran stalls selling fruits and vegetables. Tourism was thriving, and locals visited for the fresh produce, too. However, over the years, the attractions that made the market a special place to visit have been challenged, and social and economic trials have emerged. The area is home to three emergency shelters. High rates of crime have been reported (but are showing signs of coming down). There has been a significant turnover in business.
“The diversity of businesses used to be much better. I miss the farmers,” recalled Bigras. “I did all my shopping here for fruits and vegetables, the seasonal things. Even buying my flowers and Christmas tree.”
But she said much of the market’s current predicament is political.
“Politicians are in the business of getting reelected. They don't care about the market. And I understand that. It's not their daily reality,” she added. “They stopped caring because there are now 24 wards, and the fact that…the city is the size of a small European country, our footprint is unbelievably huge.”
In recent years, numerous initiatives have been introduced to revitalize the area.
Tourism groups have worked to host most cultural and music festivals. There have been Christmas tree lights and winter markets. Last week, a new safety initiative was announced by the mayor that will see $500,000 spent over two years to fund a security guard program in the community.
Now, there is also an initiative to make the ByWard Market a national historic site.
Bigras, who is chair of the Lowertown Community Association, is in support of the idea. She hopes it can be paired with the ByWard Market’s 200th anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2027.
“I think what we've lost is a recognition of the importance and the history of the market, and what it means as the birthplace of Ottawa, the nation's capital,” she said. “If you go to Europe, they're so proud of their historic communities and districts. They maintain them, and they keep them. I find that we've kind of allowed that to erode in the last few decades.”
Not as many vendors are located in the ByWard Market as their one was, but about a dozen can still be found selling items like maple syrup and Christmas wreaths. Photo by Charlie Senack.
Two centuries of history
The idea to try and get the ByWard Market historic designation was first presented by area Coun. Stéphanie Plante. The Rideau-Vanier representative said she was inspired by the heritage designation given to the Rockcliffe Park community in June.
“We all know Mr. (Colonel John) By was our first engineer. We all know it's the birthplace of Canadian markets, where commerce really started in Canada,” said Plante. “But it's the stuff that affects me, for example, like Élisabeth Bruyère, who lived in the ByWard Market. It's the history of the Irish and the Francophone settlement.”
The ByWard Market dates back to 1827, when Lieutenant-Colonel By cleared and drained a dense cedar swamp to lay out a commercial area in what was then the new settlement of Bytown, created to support construction of the Rideau Canal.
He designated space for a market and built a timber market building on George Street in Lower Town to serve canal workers and local residents. Over the two centuries, the market grew with the city, surviving fires, rebuilds and expansion into new buildings.
Katherine Spencer-Ross, president of Heritage Ottawa, said she too supports the area receiving heritage designation. While the move is more ceremonial than a legal obligation, she said it would bring attention to the neighbourhood's significance.
“People would become more aware of the market because they see it written about as a national historic site. It's more likely that people in Ottawa might visit more often,” she said. “For tourists, when they look up things to do in Ottawa, and they see there's a national historic site, it's more of a draw to go.”
Canada is home to more than 1,000 national historic sites already, and the list includes some markets, including one in St. John, N.B., and Kensington Market in Toronto.
There are 26 sites in Ottawa, including the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, the Deinfenbunker Museum in Carp, Laurier House in Sandy Hill, the Parliament Buildings, and the Rideau Canal.
“There are some beautiful buildings in the Market, and homeowners and business owners have done their bit to make them look great. We can continue to do that,” said Spencer-Ross. “Maybe even the city in its planning can look and say, ‘the Market's the national historic site now, so we need to be a little more conscious about how we treat traffic, how we treat pedestrians, how we treat our buildings, circulation, all sorts of things’.”
Other issues should be dealt with first, says business owner
For some local businesses, a possible historic designation comes with mixed feelings. Pat Nicastro, owner of Nicastro’s La Bottega Fine Food Shop on George Street, said he has no objections, but that he hopes it won't put added pressure on the businesses and landlords in the area.
“We have a lot of issues I think should be taken a little more seriously and taken care of before we do anything else or invest in anything else,” Nicastro told the Lookout. “There are three things businesses need: safety, cleanliness, and convenience for customers, like with parking.
The owner of ByWard Market's La Bottega said other priorities should be fulfilled before the area received heritage designation. Photo by Charlie Senack.
“We have over 500 businesses in the area that are a very important part to the whole landscape.”
In recent years, many long-time businesses have been forced to leave the ByWard Market due to tough economic times. In 2024, Saslove’s Meat Market closed after 70 years, marking the last of about a dozen butchers to leave the area.
That same year, the Courtyard Restaurant served its last dinners after a 43-year run. This year, Blue Cactus, Dunn's Famous Deli, and Fairouz Cafe have all shuttered their doors.
Despite the turnover, many new businesses have opened in their place. Grey’s Eatery moved into the former Blue Cactus. Barrio, a South American/Latin Fusion restaurant, opened on Rideau Street. Chuck’s Roadhouse set up shop in the former Dunn’s.
Nicastro said the success of staying afloat is all about pivoting to the constantly changing conditions.
“We've been here 30 years, and we've seen ups and downs in the Market, but I think it's looking good and things are getting better,” he said. “We've diversified into many different areas. We cater, we do deliveries, we wholesale, we do events – so it's not just a retail aspect.”
Ottawa’s built heritage committee voted last week to support a staff recommendation to put forward the ByWard Market for inclusion in Parks Canada’s National Historic Site program. Heritage planning staff said the Market was a strong contender for the criteria.
Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King, who is chair of the committee, said if approved, a plaque would be installed, but there would be no changes to the permit process or other regulations. The ByWard Market is already protected provincially as a heritage conservation district under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Plante noted that she wants to stress to local businesses and community residents that heritage designation would not “gloss over the bad parts.”
For example, she is advocating for more housing dollars, “because we know the shelter system does not work,” and is calling on upper levels of government to do more in response to the growing opioid epidemic that has hit the ByWard Market hard.
“We have $150 billion in our opioid settlement funds just sitting on a shelf, ready to be distributed. We need to make some long-term investments, because I don't think this is a crisis anymore. The crisis is here to stay,” she said. “It's like Parkinson's, it's like cancer, it's like Alzheimer's. We have to start investing in solutions.”
Plante also believes Ottawa can do a better job of promoting what the ByWard Market has to offer, and she has asked the city to create a webpage to compile information. In particular, she highlighted the Ottawa Little Theatre – Canada's longest continuously running community theatre, founded in 1913 – and many cultural establishments offering authentic food, including Korean noodle houses and Mexican taco bars.
To continue building on that culture, Plante also wants to explore how to expand the area's festival network and create more amenities for children.
“It is crazy we don't have a children's structure anywhere in that area,” she said. “The Tulip Festival is one that's really close to my heart because a lot of people come to see it and obviously it's affiliated with World War I, World War II. I would love to see that promoted more in the ByWard Market.”
