// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Ottawa?

Ottawa scores 45.1% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #208 of 386 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

45.1%

Rank

#208 / 386

Criteria present

26 / 86

Evidence coverage

58.1%

Ottawa's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation75%

4 present · 4 partial · 0 absent · 7 not assessed

Mobility & Transport90%

4 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 7 not assessed

Environment, Energy & Climate79%

7 present · 5 partial · 0 absent · 1 not assessed

Infrastructure, Water & Waste75%

2 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 7 not assessed

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion75%

4 present · 4 partial · 0 absent · 5 not assessed

Economy, Innovation & Employment86%

5 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 1 not assessed

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model50%

0 present · 6 partial · 0 absent · 8 not assessed

Where Ottawa is strong

  • Air Quality & Monitoring
  • Health & Digital Health
  • Culture, Tourism & Recreation
  • Public Transport & Real-Time Information
  • Open Data & Transparency

Where the gaps are

  • Critical Infrastructure Resilience
  • Smart Traffic & Electric Vehicles
  • Solid Waste & Circular Economy
  • Disaster Risk & Resilience
  • Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin

Evidence highlights

Public Transport & Real-Time Information · Public transport network

OC Transpo operates an O-Train network with three lines and over 200 bus routes in Ottawa, operating 24/7, as detailed on their 'Our services' page.

https://www.octranspo.com/en/our-services/

Public Transport & Real-Time Information · Real-time arrivals (GTFS-RT)

OC Transpo provides real-time information for next departures, explicitly stating 'Temps réel' (Real-time) on its French site and 'Real-time information to help you on your way' on its English site.

https://open.ottawa.ca/datasets/oc-transpo-live-next-bus-arrival-data-feed-api

Public Transport & Real-Time Information · Integrated / contactless ticketing

Ottawa uses PRESTO, an electronic fare payment system that allows cashless travel, offers various ways to pay, and supports tapping with debit or credit, as described on the PRESTO website.

https://www.prestocard.ca/en

Air Quality & Monitoring · Air-quality monitoring network

Ottawa is part of Ontario's network of 38 ambient air monitoring stations that collect real-time air pollution data, and specific Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) data is provided for Ottawa, Ontario.

https://www.airqualityontario.com/

About this assessment

Ottawa was assessed against the 86 criteria of the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework on 2026-07-12 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, and every finding links to where it was found. Scores refresh continuously as cities publish new evidence.