Next weekend’s Doors Open festival is Ottawa’s annual opportunity to explore a side of the city that is rarely available to the public. Doors Open Ottawa 2025 runs for two days and the list of buildings this year just keeps getting better.
Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, residents and visitors will have free access to nearly 100 buildings around Ottawa. Doors Open Ottawa is the second-largest Doors Open event in Canada and one of the largest in the world. There is something for everyone, whether you want to focus on learning new things, getting behind the scenes, or just enjoying beautiful places. Nearly every lovely historic church in town will be open, as well as a selection of local mosques and museums around town, open to all visitors.
For the first time, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China is opening their doors to the public, offering tours on Saturday only to visitors who register in advance. The embassy is housed in a former convent building on St Patrick street built in 1877, and purchased by the Chinese government in 1972. Visitors can expect cultural performances, and exhibitions from Chinese businesses in addition to the building tour.
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China. Photo Doors Open
The Rideau Club is where the city’s rich and powerful have been gathering in private since 1865. The current location in a tower on Bank street is the modern version of an exclusive all-boys club where Prime Ministers, royalty and major executives have been gathering since before Confederation. This is our change to see how the other half live.
Doors Open has become famous for its international flavour, with a healthy selection of embassies participating every year. Check out the award-winning architectural marvel at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, and learn all about the Aga Khan and his work in Canada and internationally. The British High Commission’s brand new state of the art building is right across the street, built on the cliffs of the Ottawa River next to the historic residence Earnscliffe . New this year, you can check out the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in a stately Golden Triangle mansion.
Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat on Sussex. Photo Doors Open
If you’re an art lover, a visit to the Enriched Bread Artists Studio is always fascinating. Meet local artists in all mediums, get up close and personal in their studios and explore the exhibition spaces scattered around the building. The Canada Council Art Bank is only open to the public for Doors Open, so you can explore the largest collection of contemporary Canadian art in the world (over 17,000 pieces) and take part in art related activities.
Get a behind-the-scenes peak into local theatre at The Gladstone Theatre on Sunday, and meet Ottawa Little Theatre’s resident ghost on Saturday.
For the architecture nerds, see an old building adapted for modern use in the beautiful Library of Parliament in the fomer Bank of Nova Scotia building on Sparks, or the former convent that now houses the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada overlooking the canal. The Dominion Observatory is a hidden gem on the Experimental Farm with some of the best views in the city from the roof, and gorgeous interior details.
Interior of Dominion Observatory. Photo Kiersten Vuorimaki
Built in 1932, The Britannia Water Purification Plant is one of two water treatment plants that supplies the City of Ottawa’s central distribution system with safe drinking water. Get behind the scenes for the process of bringing water from the Ottawa River into our homes.
If civil defense is more your bag, the CSS Building in Carp was a Cold War era installation of satellites for NATO, now decommissioned and run by Canadian Space Services Ltd. as a training facility.
The CSS Building. Photo Allan Duncan
Most local Ottawa Museums are also offering tours and special experiences like The Bytown Museum, Fairfields Heritage House, Dickinson House in Manotick, Billings Bridge Estate National Historic Site, Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, the Diefenbunker, Goulbourn Museum, Watson’s Mill and Vanier Museoparc to name a few!
While participation in Doors Open is totally free of charge, there are a few buildings that require registration ahead of time, for crowd control and security reasons. Get your tickets now, and plan your day around those special sites.
Registration is already open for:
- The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
- The British High Commission
- The Cancer Research Lab at The Ottawa Hospital
Registration opens on May 30 for:
- The Bank of Canada
- The Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum
- The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
- The Ingenium Centre
Doors Open 2025 takes places in buildings across the region Saturday June 7, and Sunday June 8. Participation is free, but registration is required for some buildings. Accessibility and parking information is available for each building on the Doors Open website.
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