At a glance

• The community association area covers the northwest corner of Orléans, bounded by the National Capital Greenbelt (west), the Ottawa River (north), Champlain Street (east) and St. Joseph Boulevard (south). That area also takes in neighbouring Orléans Wood.

• Municipally, it sits in Ward 2, Orleans West-Innes, which gained Convent Glen in the 2020 boundary review. The ward was called Innes Ward from 1997 to 2022.

• The ward councillor is Laura Dudas, in office since 2018.

• Before Ottawa’s 2001 amalgamation, western Orléans belonged to the City of Gloucester and eastern Orléans to Cumberland.

Schools

• Convent Glen Elementary (OCDSB), 1708 Grey Nuns Drive. It covers kindergarten to Grade 5 with approximately 120 students, offers English with Core French and Middle French Immersion in Grades 4 and 5, and calls itself “The Small School with a BIG heart.” Most students go on to Henry Larsen for Grades 6 to 8.

• Convent Glen Catholic School (Ottawa Catholic School Board), 6212 Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard. It cover JK to Grade 6 with about 300 students, offers French immersion and has burgundy and grey uniforms.

• Voyageurs Catholic Elementary School (Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est), 6030 Voyageur Dr. This French Catholic elementary school covers pre-kindergaten to grade 6 and is a fully French only school.

• Terry Fox Elementary School (OCDSB), 6400 Jeanne-d’Arc Blvd. N. This school serves approximately 260 students from Grade 4 to Grade 8 and offers English with Core French, and the Early French Immersion program.

• Orléans Wood Elementary School (OCDSB), 7859 Décarie Dr. This school of approximately 310 students from Kindergarten to grade 3 offers full-day bilingual Kindergarten, english with Core French, and the Early French Immersion program. Students continue on to Terry Fox Elementary School after finishing Grade 3.

• Odyssée Public Elementary School (Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est d’Ontario). This school is a full French-speaking elementary school operating since 1996 and accommodates approximately 700 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6.

• St. Matthew High School (Catholic , Grades 7 to 12), 6550 Bilberry Drive, opened in 1981.

• Cairine Wilson Secondary (OCDSB, Graces 9 to 12), 975 Orléans Boulevard, opened in 1975 and offers French Immersion. Alumni include comedian Tom Green, Olympic curler Rachel Homan and NHL players Marc Savard and Aaron Ward.

• Convent Glen Station is one of five new stations on the O-Train Line 1 East Extension. The station sits in the median of Highway 174 under Orléans Boulevard with an island platform, step-free access and an entrance on each side of the boulevard with bus connections. Planned bus routes are 31, 34 and a future R1.

• By Car, the area has several Queensway on-ramps, and downtown is about 20 minutes away. Cycling the Ottawa River pathway to downtown takes about an hour.

• The NCC’s Capital Pathway follows the Ottawa River through Orléans, with two short on-street gaps on the west side of Orléans, and reaches Petrie Island at the eastern end.

• The National Capital Greenbelt forms the entire western edge, and the Ottawa River the northern edge of Convent Glen.

• Convent Glen has several parks (Bilberry Park, Pierre Rocque Park, Tréva Cousineau Park, Grey Nuns Park, Father Richard Ward Park) and sports fields, large forested areas, and footpath connecting it to neighbouring areas.

• Convent Glem Elementary’s large schoolyard connects directly to City of Ottawa parkland.

• A wooded ravine runs behind Ravine Way, between the 1970s streets and the newer riverside homes.

1830s

• Pioneers settle the area that eventually becomes Orléans. François Dupuis is named as an early founder, and the name comes from Orléans, France.

1954

• The Villa St-Louis opens on the riverbank, run by the Grey Nuns of the Cross

1956

• On May 15th, an RCAF CF-100 crashed into the Villa St-Louis killing 15 people.

1970s

• Most of Convent Glen is built. The builder Wimpey put up detached homes in the mid-1970s

1975

• Cairine Wilson Secondary School opens, named for Canada’s first female senator.

1976

• Both neighbourhood elementary schools open: Convent Glen Elementary and Convent Glen Catholic, which starts in a five-classroom portable complex.

1979

• Convent Glen Catholic moves into its permanent building in September. Its gym hosts the first English Catholic Mass of the new Diving Infant Parish.

1981

• St. Matthew High School opens on Bilberry Drive.

1990s

• The section between Voyageur Drive and Hiawatha Park Road, marketed as East Port Cove, is developed and joins the two roads.

2001

• Orléans becomes part of the amalgamated City of Ottawa.

2000s

• The NCC releases riverside land behind the ravine for development, which now holds some of the neighbourhood’s most expensive homes.

2009

• On May 13, a memorial cross is unveiled behind the Résidence Saint-Louis.

2020

• A ward boundary review moves Convent Glen into Innes Ward, renamed West-Innes in 2022.

2026

• Pre-trial running on the O-Train East Extension line, with a station at Convent Glen is set to begin in November.