About Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario — the paper of record for Canada's capital city. Established in 1845 as The Packet of Bytown by William Harris and renamed the Citizen in 1851, it has published for 180 years through Ottawa's transformation from a rough lumber town into the seat of the federal government and a modern technology hub. Owned by Postmedia Network and published Tuesday through Saturday in print — with a digital Monday edition — it is one of the most influential regional newspapers in Canada, read daily by the politicians, public servants, diplomats and journalists who run the country. It publishes at ottawacitizen.com.

Overview

Ottawa — a city of about 1 million, on the Ottawa River across from Gatineau, Quebec — is unlike any other newspaper market in Canada: the seat of Parliament, the federal public service, the diplomatic corps, the Supreme Court and the national media. The Ottawa Citizen is its daily newspaper: the newsroom covers Parliament Hill, the federal government, Ottawa city council, the courts, the public service, the technology sector (Kanata's Silicon Valley North), the universities, health care and the region's deep sporting culture.

The paper's distinction is its audience: the most powerful readership in the country — prime ministers, cabinet ministers, senators, MPs, deputy ministers, lobbyists and the parliamentary press gallery all read the Citizen. Its Parliament Hill coverage sets the national agenda, and its scoops on federal politics have repeatedly made national and international news. In 2026 the paper received the Key to the City of Ottawa for more than 175 years of covering the nation's capital.

History

The Citizen was established as The Packet of old Bytown in 1845 by William Harris — twelve years before Queen Victoria named Ottawa Canada's capital. It was renamed the Citizen in 1851, and its original motto, "Fair Play and Day-Light," was eventually returned to the editorial page. The paper passed through a series of nineteenth-century owners: Harris sold to John Gordon Bell and Henry J. Friel in 1846; Robert Bell bought it in 1849 and sold to I.B. Taylor in 1861; Charles Herbert Mackintosh became principal owner in 1877, later selling to Robert and Lewis Shannon. The editorial view varied with ownership: reform under Friel, conservative — supporting John A. Macdonald — under Mackintosh. When the Liberals defeated the Tory government in 1896, the owners decided to sell to the Southam family rather than face an expected cut in government revenue.

In 1897 the Citizen joined the Southam chain, remaining there for a century: through the capital's growth, the two world wars, the expansion of the federal government and the rise of the technology sector. In 1996 the Southam chain was purchased by Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc.; in 2000 it was sold to Canwest Global, which was taken over by Postmedia Network in 2010.

The modern era brought milestones and controversies. In 2002 the Citizen's publisher, Russell Mills, was dismissed following the publication of a story critical of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and an editorial calling for Chrétien's resignation — a national media scandal. The paper published its last Sunday edition on July 15, 2012, cutting 20 newsroom jobs in a Postmedia restructuring. In 2014 the Citizen was revamped with a new logo — the paper's name over an outline of the Peace Tower roof on a green background, replacing the old Peace Tower emblem — and a marketing campaign built around the tagline "Trending since 1845, Reimagined for Today." On October 17, 2022, the Citizen stopped producing a Monday print edition due to printing and delivery costs, continuing with a digital Monday edition.

Content and Sections

The modern Citizen is built around the capital. Parliament Hill anchors the news pages — the paper's Hill bureau is among the largest in the parliamentary press gallery, covering the prime minister, cabinet, the House and Senate, the federal budget, and the machinery of government with unmatched depth — alongside Ottawa city council, the National Capital Region's municipalities, the courts (including the Supreme Court), and the public service. The paper's political columnists and editorial writers are among the most influential in the country.

The technology sector receives sustained attention reflecting the region's identity as Silicon Valley North: the Kanata tech cluster, the startups, the federal procurement that drives the industry. The diplomatic corps, the military (National Defence Headquarters), the universities (Ottawa, Carleton), health care and the region's francophone community — Ottawa is officially bilingual — are covered in depth. Sports coverage centres on the NHL's Ottawa Senators, the CFL's Redblacks, the PWHL's Ottawa Charge, university athletics and the region's deep hockey culture. Arts coverage follows the National Arts Centre, the festivals and the capital's cultural life. Opinion pages carry editorials, columns and letters from across the region, and feature sections cover food, homes, health, travel and community life.

Coverage and Audience

The Citizen serves Ottawa and the National Capital Region — a market of roughly 1.4 million people across Ottawa, Gatineau and the surrounding communities. Its audience is the most influential in Canadian media: the prime minister's office, the cabinet, Parliament, the public service, the diplomatic corps, the lobbyists, the journalists and the engaged citizens of the capital.

Weekly circulation was reported at 661,039 as of 2013, among the largest regional papers in the country; the paper publishes Tuesday through Saturday in print, with a digital Monday edition and continuous online coverage. The Citizen's political coverage doesn't just report the national agenda — it sets it: the paper's scoops, investigations and columnists are read in the corridors of power and cited across the country and around the world. Its archives, reaching back to 1845, document the lumber town, the capital's selection, Confederation, the wars, the Charter era and the making of modern Ottawa — a documentary record of the nation's capital that no other institution holds.

Ownership

The Ottawa Citizen is owned by Postmedia Network Inc., Canada's largest newspaper chain, which took over the paper in 2010 as part of its acquisition of Canwest's publishing assets. Within Postmedia, the Citizen shares national content, digital platforms and corporate services with the chain's other papers while maintaining its Ottawa newsroom and editorial identity under editor Andrew Potter.

Postmedia itself is publicly traded and majority-owned by the U.S. investment firm Chatham Asset Management. The paper's lineage — from William Harris's Packet through the nineteenth-century owners, the Southam century, Hollinger and Canwest to Postmedia — connects the Bytown press to the digital age.

Digital Presence

The Citizen's website, ottawacitizen.com, is a continuously updated news operation: breaking Hill news, city-hall coverage, Senators reporting, opinion, photo galleries and video, optimized for the capital's readers. The site runs on Postmedia's shared digital infrastructure, offering digital subscriptions, e-edition replicas of the print paper and newsletters.

On social media the Citizen distributes breaking political news and community stories to one of the largest newspaper followings in Canada — its Hill scoops travel instantly through the political class. As of 2026, the Ottawa Citizen continues to publish — Tuesday through Saturday in print, daily online — 180 years after William Harris's first Packet, still the paper of record for the nation's capital — still trending since 1845, still the essential first read of the people who run the country.

William Harris's 1845 Bytown Packet — renamed the Citizen in 1851, motto 'Fair Play and Day-Light' — became the capital's paper of record: through Southam (1897), Hollinger (1996), Canwest (2000) to Postmedia (2010). The last Sunday edition printed July 15, 2012; Monday print ended October 17, 2022. One hundred eighty years on, the Citizen remains Ottawa's broadsheet.