Ottawa is renovating right now in a way it has not for at least a decade. Bill 23 unlocked basement suites and garden suites. Heritage neighbourhoods are turning over to a generation that wants modern interiors behind protected facades. Suburbs that filled in the 2010s are hitting their first major refresh cycle. And the city is approving permits faster than it has in years.
From where I sit, five Ottawa neighbourhoods are driving most of the renovation activity in 2026. Each one has a distinct flavour. Each one has a typical project type. Here is what is happening in each, and what it means if you live there or are looking to buy in.
1. Westboro, the Bill 23 ADU capital
Typical project">Typical project">Typical project">Typical project">Typical project: legal basement suite or garden suite (laneway home / coach house) on existing R1 lots. Build scope6bbc">Build scope6bbc">Build scope6bbc">Build scope6bbc">Build scope: ranges from a basement legalization at the lower end to a full freestanding coach house at the upper end. Why now3bf84aa1">Why now3bf84aa1">Why now3bf84aa1">Why now3bf84aa1">Why now: Bill 23 plus walkable lifestyle plus high rental demand.
Westboro sits on Ottawa's strongest mix of conditions for ADUs. Generous lot widths (most around 35 to 50 feet). Side-yard access on a lot of lots. R1 zoning that Bill 23 unlocked for up to three units. And tenant demand from young professionals who want a Westboro address but cannot afford a Westboro single-family home.
The numbers driving the boom:
- Westboro 1-bed legal suites command strong, market-leading rents in 2026
- Garden suites (purpose-built coach houses) rent higher again
- A legal suite lifts the home's appraised value materially at resale
- Permit approval timelines for ADUs are running 12 to 18 weeks (faster than full additions)
The renovation profile in Westboro is increasingly two-stage: gut the upper floors for the family use, then add the legal suite as the second project. The income suite covers a meaningful share of the mortgage on a typical Westboro semi.
2. The Glebe, heritage refresh
Typical project: full interior gut of a 1900-1925 home, preserving the exterior facade. Build scope: a major whole-interior renovation, driven by structural retrofitting, full mechanical replacement, and heritage-compliant exterior work. Why now: generational turnover, cash buyers, and heritage rules that allow modern interiors.
The Glebe houses are 100+ years old. The buyer profile shifted in the last five years. Where it used to be older couples who had lived there for decades, the active buyers are now families in their late 30s and early 40s who came in with the proceeds of a Toronto sale or a tech windfall. They want the heritage exterior and a 2026 interior.
What that looks like in practice:
- Original brick repointed with lime mortar, original windows restored where heritage staff require
- Interior walls coming down, steel beams replacing load-bearing partitions
- Knob-and-tube wiring fully replaced (still present in 40% of pre-1950 Glebe houses)
- Cast-iron drain stack replaced (most are at end of life)
- HVAC moved off radiators to forced air or hydronic with modern ducting
- Kitchen and primary bath fully rebuilt, often pushing into former pantry or maid's-quarters space
The hidden Glebe budget line
The single most under-budgeted line on Glebe renovations is structural retrofitting. The houses settle. The original framing is undersized by current code. A meaningful share of any major Glebe renovation goes to engineering, sistering joists, levelling floors, and reinforcing the foundation. Contractors who quote without an engineer's structural assessment are setting up a change order. Always.
3. Manotick, the rural addition
Typical project: large addition (master suite wing, family room, three-car garage with above suite) on rural and semi-rural lots. Build scope: a substantial addition, with cost driven by added square footage, finish level, and rural-lot factors like septic. Why now: people who moved to Manotick during the pandemic are realizing they need more house, not a different house.
Manotick saw a huge inflow during 2020 to 2022. Buyers wanted space, water access, and quieter streets. They bought 1980s and 1990s 2-storey homes on half-acre and acre lots, intending to update them eventually. "Eventually" is now.
The Manotick renovation pattern is the addition, not the gut. Owners are happy with the location and the lot. They want more square footage. The lot has the room. The zoning permits it. The renovation that wins:
- A 600-1,200 sq ft addition with a primary suite, walk-in closet, and luxe ensuite
- An extended garage with a coach-house suite above (Bill 23, fully legal)
- A rear screened porch or three-season room facing the river or wooded back yard
- A new kitchen, often relocated to the addition for better light
- Mechanical upgrades the existing house was overdue for
The challenge in Manotick specifically is septic capacity. Most rural lots are on private septic, and adding bedrooms or a coach-house suite often triggers a septic upgrade. Budget for septic work as its own line on top of the renovation. It is rarely visible in the initial quote.
4. Findlay Creek, newer-home refresh
Typical project: basement legalization, kitchen reno, primary bath upgrade. Build scope: from a single basement project at the lower end to a combined kitchen, bath, and basement package at the upper end. Why now: 2018-2022 builds are hitting the seven-to-ten year mark when builder-grade finishes start showing wear.
Findlay Creek is the youngest neighbourhood on this list. Most homes are 2018 to 2022 builds. The bones are good. The finishes are not. Builder-grade kitchens, contractor-special bathrooms, plain unfinished basements. Owners are now in year five to eight of ownership and ready to upgrade.
What is moving the most in Findlay Creek:
- Kitchen replacement (the original builder kitchens are mid-grade and not aging well)
- Basement legalization for income (the lot conditions favour it, see our Findlay Creek basement case study)
- Primary bathroom upgrade (the builder ensuites are small and basic)
- Outdoor living (covered patio, outdoor cooking zone, hot tub deck)
- Smart-home retrofit (homes built before the smart-home wave have to retrofit, expensive)
The advantage of working in Findlay Creek is the lot is clean. Modern foundation, modern wiring, modern HVAC. No surprise asbestos, no knob-and-tube, no settled framing. Renovation costs run lower per square foot than in older neighbourhoods because demolition is cleaner and surprises are rare.
5. Alta Vista, the bungalow second storey
Typical project: full second-storey addition over an existing 1950s-1960s bungalow. Build scope: a major up-addition, with cost driven by structural reinforcement, full new upper floor, and service upgrades. Why now: bungalow lots in Alta Vista are 60+ feet wide, the existing footprint is small, and the cost differential to a new 2-storey is enormous.
Alta Vista is dominated by 1950s and 1960s brick bungalows on large lots, often 60 to 90 feet wide and 100 to 130 feet deep. The original homes are 1,100 to 1,500 sq ft on the main floor, often with an unfinished basement. Buyers in 2026 want 2,800 to 3,800 sq ft of finished living space. That math forces a second storey.
The Alta Vista bungalow second-storey is the smartest geometric move available in Ottawa. You keep the lot, the trees, the location, and the foundation. You double the house above grade. The cost per added square foot is two-thirds what it would cost to demolish and rebuild.
The structural details that matter:
- The existing foundation usually needs reinforcement to carry a second storey. Engineer's report is mandatory.
- The main floor framing was sized for a one-storey load and often needs sistering or a new beam line.
- Gas, electrical, and plumbing services usually need to be upgraded (200A panel minimum).
- The roof comes off entirely. The owners need to be out of the house for 8 to 12 weeks.
- Permit timelines run 12 to 22 weeks because the project often crosses zoning thresholds (height, lot coverage).
Done right, an Alta Vista second-storey addition lands at a meaningfully lower cost per added square foot than a demolish-and-rebuild. A new equivalent 2-storey on the same lot costs considerably more per square foot once you factor in demolition, foundation, and the cost of moving out for 18 months instead of 8 weeks.
What this means if you are renovating
The neighbourhood you are in shapes the renovation that makes sense. Westboro favours ADUs. The Glebe favours heritage interiors. Manotick favours additions. Findlay Creek favours mid-grade refresh. Alta Vista favours up-additions. Quoting against the wrong project type for the neighbourhood is how owners end up over-improving (a luxury-tier kitchen in a mid-grade Findlay Creek home) or under-improving (Glebe heritage with builder-grade finishes).
If you live in any of the five and want to know what makes sense on your specific lot, the free 48-hour feasibility we offer covers exactly that. We pull the zoning, check the heritage register, look at the comparables, and tell you whether your project is a focused refresh or a full-home reno. See our full-home renovation page for how the conversation usually opens.