New ByWard Market McDonald’s will be takeout only, councillor says

Signs indicating a new McDonald's location is opening are now visible on a Dalhousie Street building. Nov. 7, 2025. (Scott Rook/CTV News Ottawa)

The Golden Arches will return to Ottawa’s Rideau Street later this year, but the fast-food restaurant will look a little different to the one that closed over two years ago.

Signs have been posted on a storefront at the intersection of Rideau Street and Dalhousie Street, indicating that a McDonald’s is “coming soon.”  The signs say McDonald’s is now hiring for the location.

It’s one of three new McDonald’s restaurants opening in the ByWard Market, Old Ottawa East and Westboro neighbourhoods in the coming months.

• McDonald’s returning to Ottawa’s ByWard Market

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante said the new McDonald’s location on Dalhousie Street “will be different” than the one that closed at 99 Rideau Street in March 2023.

“They’re going to reconfigure this location a bit differently. It’s my understanding that it will be takeout only; there won’t be any seating,” Plante told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll.

“We have seen that model in some of the coffee shops.”

Plante said the owner of the building has “really been wonderful” in keeping her up to date on the progress for the new McDonald’s location.

She says it will open sometime in December.

“I’m going to be having some conversations with them, and I just hope both our local residents, our local economy, and especially our youth, can benefit,” Plante said.

CTV News Ottawa did not receive a response from McDonald’s about plans to open the new restaurant. There is no word on the hours of operation for the new McDonald’s at Rideau and Dalhousie.

The Rideau Street McDonald’s closed in March 2023. It became a notorious spot for late night crowds at bars and restaurants. The McDonald’s gained particular notoriety following the release of a video filmed in December 2013 showing a man pulling a baby raccoon out of his sweater while others were involved in a fight.

In 2019, then-Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau sent a letter to the president and CEO of McDonald’s Canada to raise concerns about “ongoing criminal activity and social disorder” at the Rideau Street location. McDonald’s then reduced its hours of operation to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. following a meeting with police. It had been open for 24 hours a day.

New locations

A new McDonald’s is now open in the former Scotiabank Branch in Westboro.

According to the McDonald’s store locator, the restaurant is open at 388 Richmond Road. The store will be open 24 hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and until 11:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

There are plans to open a restaurant in the Milieu building at Des Oblats Avenue and Main Street. The store is currently hiring staff.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Adam Beauchemin