Are you planning a trip to Ottawa? It’s a beautiful city to visit in any season, for its architecture and its parks. While developing our Ottawa Tourist Scavenger Hunt, we identified a few locations used in the filming of well-known movies we thought we’d share with you.
4 film locations in Ottawa
Government Conference Center- Built in the Beau-Arts style by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1912, the Government Conference Center by the Rideau Canal faces the Chateau Laurier hotel and is very close to Parliament Hill. It was originally Ottawa’s Union Station, the main rail hub.
- Today, this building serves to host various conferences and political activities such as the G20 in 2001. A section of the Berlin Wall was located in its entrance from 1991 until 2011 when it was moved to a museum.
- In 1976, Shadows in an Empty Room with Martin Landau shot a few scenes here on Rideau St, as well as on Wellington further west.
Lord Elgin Hotel- The Lord Elgin Hotel was built in 1941 in the chateau style. It bears the name, like the road it is on, of James Bruce (1862-1863), 8th Earl of Elgin and first Governor General of United Canada. He was the official representative of the British Crown in this British province – before it became a country.
- In 2013, Penthouse North a thriller with Michael Keaton shot scenes in Ottawa, including here on Elgin St.
Rideau Canal- Colonel By, a prominent founder of Ottawa supervised construction of the Rideau Canal in 1832. It connects the Ottawa River here in Ottawa to the St. Lawrence River in Kingston, 202 kilometers away. Its original purpose was to transport logs to Kingston for the shipbuilding effort, hoping to prevent a war against the United States, which never happened.
- In 1997, Batman & Robin shot scenes with Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in winter on the Rideau Canal.
Chateau Laurier- The Canadian Pacific Railway built Chateau Laurier hotel, today operated by Fairmont, 1912, in tandem with Union Station across the street.
- In 1941, Captains of the Clouds with James Cagney shot scenes here in and around Chateau Laurier.
We invite you to try our Ottawa Tourist Scavenger Hunt. It is a 2-hour self-guided walking tour of the downtown area that you do with your smartphone (how it works). It costs $35 for a group of 2 to 6 persons. You’ll come across most of these film locations. Moreover, you’ll enjoy solving the various challenges at each step of the way while learning the history of Ottawa.
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