Guest Speaker: Allison Margot Smith, Historian & Documentary Filmmaker Details A Special Bytown200 Presentation Allison explores the fascinating history of the Rideau Canal, including a presentation of her new film (created especially for the 2026 HSO Bytown200 Bicentennial Storytelling Challenge): “Two Wars, Three Watersheds, a Slew of Surveys and a Canal”. Admission is free. All are welcome to attend.

Guest Speaker Mohamed Ghadban, Vice-President, OMA Details The Ottawa Mosque, the first mosque in the nation’s capital and one of the oldest in Canada, was conceived in 1964 and completed in 1973, at a time when Canada’s nationwide Muslim population numbered fewer than live in just Ottawa today. Join us a we explore the history...

Guest Speaker Jeff Wang, Author, “Beneath the Archway: Overseas Chinese in Ottawa since 1892” From the arrival of the earliest immigrants in 1892 to the unveiling of Ottawa’s Chinatown Archway in 2010, Jeff Wang’s meticulous research has brought to life the struggles, triumphs and immense contributions of generations of Chinese-Canadians – despite navigating discrimination such...

Guest Speaker Paul Weber, Singer/Songwriter, Historian/Storyteller Join us as Paul takes us on a ride through time with tales of early aviators to Ottawa… a buried beer train… lost Francophone history… when Ottawa had a king… and more! Admission is free. All are welcome to attend.

Guest Speaker: Joan O'Malley When Prime Minister Lester Pearson called up Joan’s father at the last-minute, urgently needing samples (by the next morning!) of the final three choices for the new Canadian flag, it was 20-year old Joan who came to her father’s rescue, sewing Canada’s first maple leaf flag. Admission is free. All are...