Marketing, websites and AI for businesses in Ottawa

The market opened in 1826. It’s still open.

nuordinary helps established businesses, healthcare practices, manufacturers and nonprofits work out honestly what needs to change, then builds what moves them: strategy, brand, websites, marketing, search, AI and systems. Our head office is in London, Ontario, and we work with organisations in Ottawa and across Canada.

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The ByWard Market building in Ottawa, with market stalls along the street — Fig. 01. The ByWard Market building, Ottawa. Credit

More than the capital.

Ottawa-Gatineau is Canada’s fourth-largest metro area, home to 1,488,307 people in the 2021 census. More than a third of Ottawa residents can speak both English and French.

The city grew up around the Rideau Canal, opened in 1832 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In winter, part of it becomes a 7.8 kilometre skateway.

And it builds things. Kanata North calls itself Canada’s largest tech park, with more than $13 billion a year in economic impact. Shopify launched here in 2006.

The Rideau Canal locks stepping down between stone walls in summer — Fig. 02. The Rideau Canal locks in summer, Ottawa. Credit

Who’s building here

A few of the people and places building Ottawa:

[01] The makers

A CBC engineer’s company, and a Canada Day brewery.

John Ross, an engineer at the CBC, founded Ross Video in 1974. It keeps its research labs in Ottawa and builds its products in Iroquois, Ontario. In 2025 it was one of the Best Ottawa Business Award winners.

Fifty minutes east, in Vankleek Hill, father and son Tim and Steve Beauchesne started Beau’s brewery on Canada Day 2006. Ten years later they made it employee-owned, and in 2022 its shareholders voted to join Steam Whistle.

Making it is the hard part. Being found for it shouldn’t be.

[02] The people who care for people

Care that reaches as far as Nunavut.

CHEO, the children’s hospital, opened its doors on 17 May 1974. In 2024-25 it handled 71,273 emergency visits, for children from eastern Ontario, northern Ontario, Nunavut and the Outaouais.

The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, founded in 2001, is home to about 2,200 scientists, clinician investigators and students, and ran Canada’s first clinical trial of made-in-Canada CAR-T cells.

Around them are the clinics, practices and allied health professionals people see every week. Their job is care. The website, the booking and the paperwork should make that easier, not harder.

[03] The main streets

A family business on Bank Street since 1936.

Sam Wallack opened a photographic supply store in 1936. His son John joined in 1963 and added art supplies and a gallery. In 2024, after 50 years at 231 Bank Street, Wallack’s moved to 305 Bank. This year Michael Wallack was named one of Ottawa’s Forty Under 40.

The ByWard Market has been trading since 1826. Preston Street, Ottawa’s Corso Italia, has held Italian Week since 1974.

Today 18 business improvement areas, representing more than 7,000 businesses, work together through the Ottawa Coalition of BIAs, from Barrhaven and Bells Corners to Wellington West, Centretown and Orléans.

Owners on these streets run the shop, the books, the staff and the social media. They shouldn’t have to figure all of it out alone.

The corner of Preston Street and Beech Street in Little Italy — Fig. 03. Preston Street at Beech, Little Italy, Ottawa. Credit

Restaurants and pubs along York Street in the ByWard Market — Fig. 04. York Street in the ByWard Market, Ottawa. Credit

[04] The organisations working for something bigger

588,000 visits, and a city that gives back.

The Ottawa Food Bank says it saw 588,000 visits in the last year, more than it has ever seen. Nearly one in five visitors has a job.

The Ottawa Community Foundation granted $25.1 million to 932 charities in 2025, including $1 million to the Food Bank and its 71 partner agencies.

United Way East Ontario works across Ottawa, Prescott-Russell, Lanark and Renfrew.

Small teams carry a lot. The systems behind them should carry some of it.

Families on the snow slides at Winterlude — Fig. 05. Winterlude, Ottawa and Gatineau. Credit

Good work, recognised.

The Ottawa Board of Trade, founded in 1857, runs the Best Ottawa Business Awards and Forty Under 40. Ross Video is above. Some of the other recent winners:

Calian, 2025 Best Ottawa Business Awards

BluWave-ai, 2025 Best Ottawa Business Awards

Algonquin College, 2025 Best Ottawa Business Awards

Thrive Select Thrift, for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa, 2025

Chris Tester, Nordica Sauna, Forty Under 40 2026

Andrew Fahim, Giatec, Forty Under 40 2026

Andrée-Anne Martel, Vanier Community Services Centre, Forty Under 40 2026

Congratulations to every one of them.

We want to tell more of these stories in our Field Notes. If you’re building something in Ottawa, tell us about it.

Building here isn’t always easy.

01
Across Canada, the federal public service was down 12,600 jobs at the end of March 2026, and the federal government plans to cut 28,000 positions by 2029. Ottawa feels it first.
02
Public servants have been back in the office four days a week since July 2026, but large blocks of downtown office space are still available.
03
In April 2026, bearing damage meant full LRT Line 1 service wouldn’t return until at least late May.
04
Food bank visits are at a level the Ottawa Food Bank says it has never seen.

Those pressures land differently on everyone:

A business owner needs more revenue without more hours in the week.

A manufacturer could serve new markets but struggles to show buyers what it makes.

A practice wants to see more patients with a team that’s already stretched.

A nonprofit needs more supporters without more work for its staff.

Different problems. Different answers. Sometimes the first step is to stop adding activity and work out what will actually make a difference.

Where Ottawa owners get help

There’s real help in town for owners and founders:

Invest OttawaOttawa’s lead economic development agency: advice, mentoring and workshops, Starter Company Plus grants of up to $5,000 and Summer Company grants of up to $3,000 for ages 15 to 29. Visit (opens in a new tab)Ottawa Board of TradeThe voice of business in Ottawa since 1857, and the Best Ottawa Business Awards. Visit (opens in a new tab)FuturpreneurEquity-free loans of up to $75,000 and up to two years of mentoring, for founders aged 18 to 39. Visit (opens in a new tab)Ottawa Community FoundationGrants to hundreds of local charities every year. Visit (opens in a new tab)

Programmes and eligibility change, so check with each one directly.

Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is point you to the right resource, even when that resource isn’t us.

Ottawa is part of a bigger region.

KanataKanata North, which calls itself Canada’s largest tech park.

GatineauAcross the river, and part of the same metro area of nearly 1.5 million people.

Vankleek HillHome of Beau’s, about 50 minutes east.

Office buildings of Kanata Research Park beyond a grassy field — Fig. 06. Kanata Research Park, Ottawa. Credit

Low brick shops along Bank Street in the Glebe — Fig. 07. Bank Street in the Glebe, Ottawa. Credit

Ottawa

How nuordinary works with Ottawa organisations.

nuordinary’s head office is in London, Ontario. We take on work across the province and the rest of Canada, Ottawa included.

You know your organisation better than anyone else does. Our job isn’t to arrive with a package. It’s to understand what you’ve built, where you want to go and what’s in between.

See where you are. Define what comes next. Build what gets you there. Measure the movement.

Local businesses: Easier for the right customers to find you and choose you, with systems that don’t depend on you for everything.
Healthcare practices: Easier for patients to find you and book, with less paperwork for your team.
Manufacturers: Complex capabilities explained clearly, to the buyers who need them.
Nonprofits: A mission that’s easier to find, support and sustain.

Capabilities that fit what’s happening in Ottawa: AI search⁠, web design⁠, content marketing⁠, email marketing and business strategy.

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Questions

Can nuordinary work with organisations in Ottawa?

Yes. nuordinary is based in London, Ontario, and takes on work for established businesses, healthcare practices, manufacturers and nonprofits across Ontario and the rest of Canada, Ottawa included.

What can nuordinary help a Ottawa business with?

Strategy, brand, websites, marketing, SEO and AI search visibility, AI and automation, and better systems. We start with the outcome you want, then choose the capabilities that get you there.

Can you help a tech company in Kanata?

Yes. Technology companies often need help explaining complex products clearly, getting found by the right buyers and building marketing that fits a long sales cycle.

Can you work with Ottawa nonprofits?

Yes. Nonprofits are one of the four kinds of organisation nuordinary focuses on. With demand at record levels, systems that let a small team do more are often the place to start.

How do we start?

Start a conversation. You don’t need a brief or a list of services. Tell us what’s happening and what you’d like to change.

Other places we celebrate

London, OntarioHome and head office. TorontoThe main-street idea started here, in 1970. MississaugaHead offices up top. Five villages at street level. HamiltonKnown for steel. Built on much more. Waterloo RegionMarket day since the 1830s. Still building. BramptonThe Flower Town still grows things. VancouverBurned in 1886. Rebuilt by its merchants. CalgaryBread since 1962. Boots since 1978. EdmontonCanada’s first food bank started here. HalifaxA market since 1750. Seeds since 1866.

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Where next for your Ottawa organisation?

Wallack’s started as a photo supply store. Beau’s started on Canada Day. Tell us where you’re starting from, and where you want to go.

Start a conversation

Fig. 08. Wellington Street West in winter, Ottawa. Credit