‘Our busiest day of the year’: How Ottawa is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

CTV’s Peter Szperling has more on the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations happening in Ottawa.

Many people in the capital are spending Tuesday celebrating Irish heritage on St. Patrick’s Day.

Whether you’re Irish, or just joining in, there are parties happening throughout the city and at various bars, pubs, and restaurants, with some even opening early for the occasion.

“it’s definitely our busiest day of the year,” said Jeremy Foley, bartender and manager at the Heart and Crown in Barrhaven. “My grandfather is from Ireland, so it’s just culturally, it’s a really good time just to celebrate Ireland and just have a great time.”

The location was one of several bars in the city that opened at 10 a.m., and is keeping the party going until closing at 2 a.m.

“We have a pretty good capacity here,” Foley said.

Cameron Chapman was one of the first customers through the door Tuesday morning,

“It’s the best day of the year,” he said. “I was here a couple of years ago, and the lineup was, down the way. This time I came early; there’s eight of us and we needed a good table.”

“We do this annually and we absolutely love it,” says Trista Lynch-Black.

Many look forward to celebrating

“It’s a pretty big community. We see a lot of people come in throughout the week,” said Melissa Kirchner at the Scottish and Irish Store in Ottawa.

“A lot of people are celebrating. We’ve seen a lot of people come in for the shirts just to keep the leprechauns away. And a lot of people coming in, getting ready, either celebrating at home with food or getting dressed to go out on the town.”

Ottawa’s Irish heritage

It’s not just parties, bars, or events at long-term care homes marking St. Patrick’s Day. Ottawa has deep Irish roots,

Chloe Dennis, exhibition and collections manager at the Bytown Museum, says the Irish are recognized as making historically significant contributions to Canada.

“For example, Ottawa’s local history, Bytown, they largely contributed to the construction of the Rideau Canal. And it’s very significant for our city’s, but also country’s history,” she said. “This year, 2026, is the 200th anniversary of the start of the Rideau Canal construction project, led by Lt. Col. By, who, as a result, also led the development of the settlement of Bytown as well.”

She says the Rideau Canal construction project was largely done by new immigrant labourers. “Mostly Irish folks, but also French Canadians, Scottish people, English people, even Americans as well, but the Irish community contributed really heavily to that,” said Dennis.

Dennis says many of Ottawa’s landmarks come from Irish contributions, like the Corktown Footbridge, The Irish Heritage Village, and the ByWard Market. Lowertown was home to a lot of the Irish population of Bytown, she says.

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