- About Canada’s Capital
- What's So Special About the Capital Region
- Capital Functions
- History of Canada's Capital Region
- Maps of the Capital Region
- Geography
- Capital Infocentre
- Getting Here
- Canada's Capital Cities Organization
- Explore the Outdoors
- Celebrations and Events
- Attractions
- Educational Resources
- Volunteer Centre
- Contact Us
Ottawa was named the capital of the Province of Canada in 1857. At this time, Ottawa was a plain little industrial town in the middle of nowhere. The transformation started in 1859, when work began on a series of grand new Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. The legislature of the Province of Canada sat for the first and last time in these new buildings in 1866. The very next year, Canada was created as a new independent nation, and the first government of the Dominion of Canada assembled in Ottawa. However, its history goes back much further than that.