Live in Beacon Hill
Postwar and 1960s subdivision on the escarpment above the Ottawa River, with the Greenbelt on one side, the National Research Council on the other, and three high schools in the middle.
Beacon Hill is what a well-built 1960s suburb looks like sixty years on. It was part of the City of Gloucester until amalgamation in 2001, and it was laid out in the 1960s and 1970s on the rise above the Ottawa River, in two halves divided by Montreal Road: Beacon Hill North, which runs down towards the river and includes the large wooded lots of Rothwell Heights, and Beacon Hill South, which is denser and closer to the highway. The Greenbelt closes the eastern edge, and Green's Creek runs through a ravine inside it. What makes the neighbourhood unusual for an Ottawa suburb is the concentration of institutions: three high schools, including Colonel By with its International Baccalaureate programme; the National Research Council's Montreal Road campus; the Canada Aviation and Space Museum at Rockcliffe airport; and La Cité collégiale a few minutes west. Blair station — the eastern end of Line 1 — is three kilometres away, which puts downtown about twenty-five minutes off by train. The mature trees are the other thing people notice, and they are the reason a 1965 side-split here does not read as a 1965 side-split.
A 1960s suburb that grew into its trees
The Beacon Hill Community Association draws the neighbourhood with the Greenbelt and the Green's Creek ravine to the east, Highway 174 to the south, and Blair Road south of Montreal Road and Rothwell Heights north of it to the west. Its sub-neighbourhoods are Beacon Heights, Beacon Hill North, Beacon Hill South, Beaconwood, Cardinal Heights and Rothwell Village. This guide covers the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study's Beacon Hill South – Cardinal Heights and Rothwell Heights – Beacon Hill North together.
Beacon Hill was laid out in the 1960s and 1970s on the rise above the Ottawa River, when Gloucester Township was suburbanising to absorb a growing federal public service. It comes in two halves either side of Montreal Road: Beacon Hill North, running down towards the river and taking in the large wooded lots of Rothwell Heights, and Beacon Hill South, denser and closer to the highway. The Greenbelt closes the eastern edge, with the Green's Creek ravine cut through it. It was part of the City of Gloucester until amalgamation in 2001.
Unusually institutional for a suburb. Three high schools sit within a kilometre of each other — Colonel By, which carries the east end's International Baccalaureate programme, Gloucester High School, and Lester B. Pearson Catholic. Immediately west is the National Research Council's Montreal Road campus, the largest federal science complex in the region and, for a great many households here, a five-minute commute. The Canada Aviation and Space Museum is on the river at Rockcliffe airport, and La Cité collégiale is a few minutes further.
Then the train arrived. Line 1 opened in 2019 with its eastern terminus at Blair station, three kilometres west — the first rapid transit the neighbourhood has ever had, and a genuine change to what a downtown commute costs in time. Downtown is roughly twenty-five minutes door to door from most of Beacon Hill, which is better than several inner-city neighbourhoods manage by car.
The honest version. Two things. The first is the housing: this is sixty-year-old stock, and while it was well built and sits under a canopy that has now fully grown in, a 1965 bungalow is a 1965 bungalow — inspect the roof, the windows, the electrical panel and, on the older streets, the buried oil tanks. The second is the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre, the city's main wastewater treatment plant, on the river below the neighbourhood. Most days you would not know. On a still, hot day with the wrong wind, you would. Visit in July before you decide.
- Blair station, three kilometres away, is the eastern terminus of Line 1 — the whole east end transfers here
- Rothwell Heights north of Montreal Road has the largest wooded lots in the east end and is a different market from Beacon Hill South
- Three high schools within a kilometre, including the east end's IB programme at Colonel By
- Sixty-year-old housing stock: check the panel, the windows and, on the older streets, for a buried oil tank
- The Robert O. Pickard treatment plant is on the river below the neighbourhood — visit on a still, hot day
- Green's Creek and the Greenbelt are on the eastern boundary, which is the neighbourhood's best free amenity
How Beacon Hill got here
- 1950sGloucester Township, east of Ottawa, begins to suburbanise as the federal public service expands and the postwar housing boom pushes development out of the old city.
- 1960sBeacon Hill is laid out on the rise above the Ottawa River in two halves either side of Montreal Road, on generous lots and curving streets, with the schools and the shopping placed inside the plan rather than added later.
- 1960s–1970sRothwell Heights fills in north of Montreal Road with the largest and most wooded lots in the east end — an unusual pattern for Ottawa, and the reason the northern half of the neighbourhood reads as more expensive than the southern.
- 1969The National Research Council's Montreal Road campus, immediately west, is by now the largest federal science complex in the region — and for a great many Beacon Hill households, the commute is a five-minute drive.
- 1970s–1980sThe three high schools open and settle into their roles: Colonel By takes the east end's International Baccalaureate programme, Gloucester High School the general catchment, and Lester B. Pearson the Catholic one. Between them they are the largest single reason families move here.
- 1990sThe Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre — the city's main wastewater treatment plant — is expanded on the river below the neighbourhood. It is the honest downside of the location, and on the wrong wind it is noticeable.
- 2001Amalgamation. Gloucester disappears into the new City of Ottawa, and Beacon Hill becomes part of Beacon Hill–Cyrville Ward.
- 2019Line 1 opens with its eastern terminus at Blair, three kilometres west — the first rapid transit the neighbourhood has had, and a genuine change to how it commutes.
- 2020sThe housing stock turns over. Sixty-year-old bungalows and side-splits on large lots are being renovated and, increasingly, replaced — the standard Ottawa inner-suburban story, playing out under a tree canopy that is now fully grown.
The Greenbelt is the eastern property line
The National Capital Greenbelt — 203.5 km², of which the NCC owns and manages 149.5 — ends at Green's Creek, and Green's Creek is Beacon Hill's eastern boundary. The ravine has NCC trails through it down to the Ottawa River and is skiable in winter. Fifteen minutes south is Mer Bleue, a 33-square-kilometre sphagnum bog with a boardwalk across it and subarctic vegetation that turns red in October. Inside the neighbourhood, the 1960s plan left generous parkland and a canopy that has had sixty years to fill in.
The resident's angle: the Greenbelt is why this neighbourhood has a hard eastern edge instead of merging into Orléans, and it is genuinely usable — trails, skiing, and Mer Bleue's boardwalk close enough for an evening. What Beacon Hill lacks is river access: the escarpment and the treatment plant occupy most of the shoreline below it, so the Ottawa River is a view rather than a beach. For that you go east to Petrie Island.
22 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 22 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from a representative point near Ogilvie and Blair, using straight-line distance multiplied by a road factor and a tiered speed model — honest ranges, not routed times. The downtown figures are the driving case; from Blair station the train is usually faster and considerably more predictable.
Every gym within reach
The nearest City pool is the Splash Wave Pool at 2040 Ogilvie Road — a wave pool, children's pools, warm wading pools and a hot tub, at municipal prices. For arenas and a fitness centre, most of the neighbourhood drives east to Ray Friel or François Dupuis in Orléans, both City facilities covered by the same membership.
- A wave pool, children's pools, warm wading pools and a hot tub, at municipal prices
- Ray Friel Recreation Complex in Orléans has four ice pads, a pool and a fitness centre
- François Dupuis Recreation Centre, also in Orléans, is the east end's other aquatic complex
- A single City membership covers all of them, which is how most families here use the system
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Splash Wave Pool open | The City's aquatic centre at 2040 Ogilvie Road — a wave pool, children's pools, warm wading pools and a hot tub. Municipal pricing, and the nearest public pool to the neighbourhood by a wide margin. | 5–8 min |
| François Dupuis Recreation Centre open | The City's east-end aquatic centre in Orléans, with a wave pool, a lane pool and a fitness centre — the nearest full municipal pool complex on this side of the Greenbelt. | 11–17 min |
| Green's Creek open | Not a gym: the Greenbelt ravine on the neighbourhood's eastern edge, with NCC trails through it down to the Ottawa River. The free option, and the one that makes Beacon Hill feel less like a subdivision than it is. | 4–6 min |
| Ray Friel Recreation Complex open | The City's four-pad arena, pool and fitness complex in Orléans — where most of the east end's minor hockey happens, and worth the drive for the programme list. | 13–19 min |
The free option is Green's Creek, on the eastern boundary: NCC trails through the ravine down to the Ottawa River, skiable in winter, and close enough that a great many residents use it instead of a treadmill.
Three high schools within a kilometre
Colonel By Secondary School on Ogilvie Road runs the east end's International Baccalaureate programme and is among the most competitive admissions in the city; Gloucester High School is the general public catchment; and Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School completes the set. The elementary schools were placed inside the 1960s subdivision plan rather than added afterwards, which is why most of them are a walk rather than a drive.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Colonel By Secondary School | OCDSB | On Ogilvie Road — the east end's International Baccalaureate school, and one of the most competitive admissions in the city. |
| Gloucester High School | OCDSB | The general public secondary catchment for the neighbourhood, on Ogilvie Road. |
| Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School | OCSB | The Catholic secondary, also inside the neighbourhood — three high schools within a kilometre of each other. |
| Roberta Bondar Public School | OCDSB | One of the catchment elementaries, typical of the schools placed inside the 1960s plan rather than added afterwards. |
| La Cité collégiale | Post-secondary | The French-language college on Aviation Parkway, the largest outside Quebec, about seven minutes west. |
The IB programme at Colonel By admits from across the city on application rather than by catchment, so living here does not by itself get you in. Confirm the current catchment for a specific address with the school board before you buy.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Green's Creek and the Greenbelt trails on the eastern edge are skiable, and five minutes from most of the neighbourhood
- A daily mean of −10 °C and 59 cm of snow on average
- Community outdoor rinks run across the subdivisions when the cold holds
- The coldest fortnight, with about 16 nights a year below −20 °C
- The Line 1 commute from Blair is at its most obviously worth having
- Minor hockey at Ray Friel and Bob MacQuarrie in Orléans is at its peak
- Green's Creek runs high and the ravine trails are unusable for a few weeks
- The Ottawa River breaks up below the escarpment
- March break, and the schools' traffic disappears for a week
- The Ottawa River peaks; the low ground below the escarpment is where it shows
- The mature canopy leafs out and the neighbourhood stops looking like a 1960s subdivision
- The Aviation Museum's outdoor collection reopens
- The best weeks of the year on the Greenbelt trails, before the mosquitoes arrive at Mer Bleue
- Doors Open Ottawa opens the NRC campus in some years, which is worth doing
- Garden season, and Rothwell Heights' large wooded lots earn their premium
- Three high schools finish within a week of each other and the neighbourhood's traffic pattern changes
- Sunset near 8:50pm, and the river-facing streets get the long evenings
- Petrie Island's beach season opens fifteen minutes east
- A July daily mean of 21.2 °C with humidex regularly past 35, moderated by sixty years of tree growth
- The Robert O. Pickard treatment plant on the river below is most noticeable in still, hot weather — this is the month to visit if you want to know
- Mer Bleue's boardwalk is at its best early in the morning
- The federal science campuses empty and Montreal Road is briefly easy
- Peak humidity, and the month a 1965 house's cooling load gets tested
- The last quiet weeks before three high schools restart
- Colonel By, Gloucester and Lester B. Pearson all go back, and the morning traffic on Ogilvie and Blair is the price of living beside three high schools
- The best weather of the year, and the best hiking weeks in Green's Creek
- The Greenbelt's mushroom season, if that is your sort of thing
- Mer Bleue's bog turns red and it is one of the strangest and best things in the city
- The neighbourhood canopy peaks, and Rothwell Heights is at its most spectacular
- The first frost usually lands in the first half of the month
- Dark by half past four, and the month a sixty-year-old window frame announces itself
- Leaf collection on large treed lots is its own annual undertaking
- The overnight winter parking ban starts, though almost every house here has a driveway
- Community rinks open across the subdivisions when the cold holds
- The first serious storm, and the reminder that the 174 is the only road east
- The federal shutdown between Christmas and New Year empties Montreal Road entirely
24 photographs of Ottawa and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed Ottawa photo library — not photographs of Beacon Hill itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 24 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Beacon Hill, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Ottawa library.