Ottawa: questions buyers ask about the records
Each page names the public record that answers one question, where to read it yourself, and which OfferDue check reads it. What the records show, never advice.
Sources checked October 16, 2026
Ottawa at a glance
The town's local rules as pictures, from our hand-kept tables of its by-laws and pages and from its flood page. Each tile opens the page with the full wording, its source and the date we checked it.
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Property tax
1.27% of assessed value, 2026 residential rate
Read the question →0%2.32% (Chatham-Kent)19th lowest of 61 towns. Lowest: Markham, 0.72%.
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Trees
30 cm across: the trunk size the rule names
Read the question → -
Short-term rentals
- A licence, permit or registration is needed
- Only a home someone lives in
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Water and sewer bills
- A stormwater charge of its own
- A different price per m³ after a first block of use
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Rental licensing
- A licence for some rented homes (by area, size or type)
Does the Greenbelt check cover Ottawa's National Capital Greenbelt?
The check reads Ontario's Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine and Niagara Escarpment boundaries. Ottawa's National Capital Greenbelt is a different record, kept by the National Capital Commission.
In the free check and the full report.
How can I find recorded pits, quarries and petroleum wells near an Ottawa home?
Two provincial records: the Pits and Quarries map of licensed and permitted aggregate sites, and the petroleum wells dataset of wells drilled for oil, gas, salt or underground storage.
In the free check and the full report.
How can I find mapped railways, power lines and pipelines near an Ottawa home?
The Ontario Railway Network and the Ontario Utility Line dataset: provincial mapping of tracks and crossings, and of power lines, pipelines and other utility lines.
In the free check and the full report.
What records explain extra dwelling units at an Ottawa home?
The City's zoning by-laws, which set what a lot may hold, and the City's submission requirements for an additional dwelling unit permit.
In the free check and the full report.
What does Ottawa's tree-removal by-law cover?
The City's Tree Protection By-law: which trees need a permit before removal, by ownership, size and lot.
In the free check and the full report.
What public rules cover short-term rentals in Ottawa?
The City's Short-Term Rental By-law 2021-104, as consolidated by the City.
In the free check and the full report.
How can I check Ottawa property tax information for 2026?
The City's assessment look-up and tax estimator, and its 2026 final tax notice, which explains how a bill is calculated.
In the free check and the full report.
Is an Ottawa address in the City's flood plain overlay?
The Flood Plain Overlay in the City's zoning: a planning map of the 1-in-100-year flood plain. In the full report, not the free check.
Full report only.
Who helps with a home in Ottawa
Every kind of business a home needs, by moment, and the local rules their work runs into, each with its source and the date it was checked.
Public-record information, not legal, financial, insurance or inspection advice. Records change and can be incomplete, and these pages describe the records, not any particular home. What we cover, city by city.