Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Ottawa, Ontario

The Canadian capital of Ottawa has no historically large Lithuanian community. While there was Lithuanian mass, there was never a Lithuanian church here.

The first Lithuanian site within the city limits appeared on 2018 March 19th as the Ottawa municipality renamed a part of the Crossfield Avenue to Vilnius Avenue. The official Ottawa city website explained the renaming as „Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. Many Lithuanians have helped create the fabric of the region.“. The part of the Crossfield Avenue was renamed as it was confusingly located beyond a park from the rest of the avenue.

Vilnius Avenue of Ottawa

Additionally, Ottawa‘s suburb of Carp had Venta preparatory school, established in 1981 as a retirement project of a Lithuanian Agatha Sildauskas (Agota Šidlauskienė), and named after the Lithuanian river of Venta. The school was oriented at „bright but underperforming“ students.

Venta Prepatory School sign in Ottawa

While the school did not teach in Lithuanian (or Lithuanian), the fact that its founder was a Lithuanian made the school a kind of hub for the Lithuanian community of Ottawa that lacked one.

The school went bankrupt in 2018, soon after the death of the founder.

The map of Lithuanian-Canadian sites

All the Lithuanian-Canadian locations are marked on this interactive map, made by the "Destination Lithuanian America" expedition (click the link):

Interactive map of Canada Lithuanian sites