About the Village

Village street sign installed temporarily in September 2010 by the City of Ottawa
on the north-west corner of Bank and Gilmour Streets

The Village is a gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-friendly area in Ottawa’s downtown core, covering a six by two block area surrounding Bank Street—from Nepean to James Streets (north to south) and Kent and O’Connor Streets (west to east). This area is the home of over 20 businesses and services that directly serve the GLBT community, many of which are gay owned and operated, with another nearly 40 other locations that proudly support and serve the Village and Ottawa’s GLBT community.

The Village also provides a safe space for our community to work, live and play, celebrates our history, culture and diversity, and is a burgeoning tourist destination.

The Village committee is a group of fiercely dedicated volunteers and community members who seek to nurture, support and grow the businesses and organizations that offer services to the GLBTQ community in Ottawa within the Village and beyond. Since our formation as a committee in 2008 (though work on the Village began as early as 2006) we have helped raise the number of rainbow flags in the area from seven to over 20, helped several locations install wide rainbow decals in their storefront windows, and even have given other rainbow-coloured signage, such as LED light fixtures and even windsocks to participating businesses in the area.

The Village is proud to have put on or been involved with over 20 fundraising and awareness events, including four film screenings, three gala fundraisers, called Build Our Bank, and four marches in the Capital Pride parade. We are also working on many public art projects that will beautify the area while educating, honouring and acknowledging the proud history and culture of Ottawa’s queer community.