Ottawa History Hub

The Champlain Sea

Brendan Ray Season 1 Episode 1

Before Ottawa was Ottawa, it was a forest, and before it was a forest, it was under 80m of water as an extension of the Atlantic Ocean.  Whales, seals, walrus and other marine animals called it home.  This is what Ottawa was like 115,000 years ago.  The Champlain Sea stretched across the Saint Laurence and Ottawa River Valleys, before the glaciers melted and the seabed rose to the surface.