Kanata is a suburban area in the western part of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located just to the west of the Greenbelt and is one of the largest of several communities that surround central Ottawa. It is a planned community, and it is notable for being an important hi-tech centre.

Situated in the Ottawa Valley, Kanata is located about 22 km (14 miles) west-southwest of downtown Ottawa along Highway 417 at a latitude of 45 degrees 18" North and a longitude of 75 degrees 55" West, with an area of 139 km.

To the east, Kanata is separated from the former City of Nepean by the National Capital Commission Greenbelt (Ottawa). The community of Bells Corners, borders the inner side of the Greenbelt. Bells Corners is itself a hi-tech suburb that was established circa 1950, and was home to such Canadian technology icons as Computing Devices Canada, the Ottawa-based defence electronics company (now General Dynamics), which blazed the trail for later defence technology firms in what would later be known as Silicon Valley North, or Kanata.

To the west of Kanata is Stittsville, Ontario, first a farming community, then a village, then part of the township of Goulbourn, Stittsville is now a large suburb which was amalgamated into the new City of Ottawa in 2001, and largely employed by the hi-tech industry.

Northern Kanata lies just to the west of the Ottawa River.

To the south of Kanata is the former village Richmond, Ontario which was also amalgamated into the City of Ottawa.

Kanata's neighbourhoods include:

• Beaverbrook
• Bridlewood
• Emerald Meadows
• Glen Cairn
• Hazeldean
• Kanata
• Kanata Lakes
• Katimavik
• Marchwood Lakeside
• Morgan's Grant
• Saddlebrook Estates
• Stittsville
• Village Green

About Kanata

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Kanata Notable buildings and institutions

Scotiabank Place, 1000 Palladium Drive. Home arena of the of the National Hockey League and many large concerts. It has also been known as The Palladium (1996), and The Corel Centre (1996-2005). For several years before the merger, the Corel Centre was not in the City of Ottawa, but rather in the City of Kanata, which was in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton.

• The Kanata Recreation Complex, 100 Walter Baker Place. Has two skating rinks and a toboggan hill.

• The Kanata Leisure Centre and Wave Pool, 70 Aird Place

• The Brookstreet Resort, 525 Legget Drive

• The Kanata Centrumpower centre; together with adjacent developments, Ottawa's third largest shopping centre.

• The Royal Canadian Legion's national headquarters, located near the Kanata Leisure Centre and the bridge over Hwy. 417 which links Castlefrank Road and Kanata Avenue. The Department of National Defence named the Valour Bridge on 1 December 2006, in an official naming ceremony to honour Canada's Armed Forces.

• Ron Maslin Playhouse, 1 Ron Maslin Place. The 350-seat theatre was completed in 1996, and was funded by an all-volunteer theatre company which was founded in 1968 in the homes of original Kanata residents and enthusiasts of live theatre.

• Bel Sensplex, 1565 Maple Grove Road. Houses four ice rinks, one olympic sized, an indoor soccer pitch, a licensed restaurant upstairs and the new location of iPlay, formerly on Iber road in Stittsville.

• AMC Kanata 24 Theatres, the largest movie theatre in Ottawa. The movie theatre itself is located in the Kanata Centrum

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Sports

Kanata is home to the Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey team. The Senators play at Scotiabank Place. A women's Ottawa Senators team plays at the Bell Sensplex. The annual Bell Capital Cup youth minor amateur ice hockey tournament is held at the Sensplex during the Christmas holiday break. The Kanata Stallions junior team plays at the Kanata Recreational Complex.

Arts groups in Kanata include the Kanata Symphony, Kanata Civic Art Gallery and Kanata Theatre.

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Schools
Major schools in Kanata:

• Bridlewood Community Elementary School
• Castlefrank Elementary School
• École Élémentaire Publique Kanata
• Glen Cairn Public School
• Jack Donohue Public School
• John Young Elementary School
• Katimavik Elementary School
• Roch Carrier Elementary School
• Roland Michener Public School
• Stephen Leacock Public School
• W. Erskine Johnston Public School
• W.O. Mitchell Elementary School

• École Roger-Saint-Denis
• École Elisabeth-Bruyère

• Georges Vanier Catholic School
• Holy Redeemer Catholic School
• Holy Spirit Catholic School
• St Isidore Catholic School
• St Martin de Porres Catholic School

French Immersion Catholic Schools:

• St James Catholic School
• St Anne Catholic School

• March Montessori School

• All Saints Catholic High School
• A.Y. Jackson Secondary School
• Earl of March Secondary School
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School