Current time in Ottawa, Canada
The current local time in Ottawa is shown below. Ottawa observes EST in winter and EDT during daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time
Sunrise & sunset today
Timezone facts
Ottawa in context
Ottawa sits on the south bank of the Ottawa River where it forms the boundary between Ontario and Quebec, the capital of Canada and the fourth-largest city by population with around 1.02 million residents. The wider National Capital Region, including Gatineau across the river in Quebec, holds around 1.5 million. The Parliament Hill complex of Gothic Revival buildings overlooks the river from a bluff at the centre of the city.
Timezone history of Ottawa
Ottawa is on Eastern Time and observes federal DST. The Ontario-Quebec border running through the National Capital Region produces no timezone change, but it does produce a significant linguistic and policy boundary that shapes daily working life, with the Quebec-side city of Gatineau operating in French while Ottawa proper operates predominantly in English.
Working hours in Ottawa
Ottawa's working economy is dominated by the federal government and its associated technology and consulting sector. Government departments observe disciplined 08:30 to 16:30 hours, with the bilingualism rules of the federal civil service producing visible language switching across the working day. The technology sector concentrated around Kanata to the west, historically anchored by Nortel and now by Shopify, BlackBerry, and several smaller firms, keeps more flexible hours that often run later. Federal holidays apply, with Quebec also observing Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.