Vanier is a formerly independent community that in 2001 was merged into the city of Ottawa. It is most notable for its majority francophone population. Vanier has about 17,632 residents.

Vanier is located in the east of Ottawa across the Rideau River from the neighbourhood of Sandy Hill and just to the south of Rockcliffe Park and New Edinburgh. To the east of Vanier are the suburbs of Gloucester. Vanier has a very small area, and a high population density.

Originally known as Janeville the area was recognized as a village in 1908. In 1913 it was incorporated as a town and became the Town of Eastview. Originally it was a popular destination for civil servants who wished to live at a distance from downtown. It began to see a large influx of French-Canadians and became the main francophone area in the capital. In 1963 it became a city. The city was renamed Vanier in honour of the recently deceased former Governor General of Canada Georges Vanier, a well-respected Franco-Canadian figure, in 1969.

Vanier is one of the poorer areas of Ottawa and has in recent decades been tarnished by an abundance of strip malls, low end retail outlets, and subsidised housing developments. Nevertheless, at the extreme west of the neighbourhood, on the Rideau River, the population is much more affluent.

Vanier makes up some of the federal and provincial riding of Ottawa-Vanier. It is one of the most staunchly Liberal ridings in Canada, having voted for that party consistently the riding's creation. Federally, it is represented by Mauril Belanger, and provincially by Madeleine Mellieur .

See also: List of Ottawa neighbourhoods

External link

• Vanier Business Improvement Association