This is Ottawa

Feb 03 2025 49 ep. 16 mins 118

This is Ottawa Podcast artwork

What would it take to make the Rideau Canal swimmable? Where do you go to find love in Ottawa when you've given up on online dating? Every week, host Robyn Bresnahan seeks out people to answer one question about the city we love. New episodes every Monday.

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What’s it like to live with HIV today?

Feb 03 2025 21 mins

Rates of HIV are rising in Ottawa. But a diagnosis today is not the death sentence it once was. Robyn Bresnahan goes for tea with someone who tested positive shortly after arriving in Canada. They talk about finding love, keeping secrets from family and what happened when they decided to disclose their HIV status to their boss.

What can be done about Ottawa’s rat problem?

Jan 27 2025 18 mins

Rats coming up through toilet bowls. Rats hanging from bird feeders. What can be done once rats decide to make your home THEIR home? One city councillor has suggested rodent birth control. Another says education and prevention is the answer. Robyn Bresnahan meets a woman whose backyard was overtaken by rats - and rings up Alberta’s ‘rat czar’ to hear how that province stays (

Can Ottawa’s independent corner stores survive?

Jan 20 2025 16 mins

Some of Ottawa’s corner stores have been around for decades. But their numbers are shrinking. Robyn Bresnahan goes behind the counter to find out what life is like, how booze is changing the game and what would be lost if independent corner shops continue to close.

What are “super lice” and how should we treat them?

Jan 13 2025 15 mins

Lice lice baby. After a COVID siesta, lice are back. And so too is a strain referred to as “super lice”. Robyn Bresnahan combs through how to spot the difference and hears why one pharmacist says the current Canadian guidelines on treating lice need to be updated.

What happens on a morning commute with the Mayor?

Jan 06 2025 23 mins

Fasten your seatbelts and hear what happens when host Robyn Bresnahan gets a lift from Manotick to City Hall with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. When they hit gridlock, Robyn surprises the Mayor with questions from Ottawans between the ages of 12 and 73. And when the Mayor boasts he can sing - she challenges him to prove it. It’s Carpool Mayor-aoke! Kind of.

How did Ottawa become a hotspot for holiday movies?

Dec 16 2024 18 mins

The made-for-TV movie industry is booming. Particularly when it comes to holiday rom-coms. Robyn Bresnahan hears why producers love Ottawa as a location for these schmaltzy flicks - and what it takes to make the city look like Christmas in the middle of summer.

How are Ottawans fighting back against car thieves?

Dec 09 2024 18 mins

In the last decade, the number of vehicles stolen in Ottawa has shot up by nearly 250 per cent. Now some residents are fighting back. Robyn Bresnahan meets two victims of vehicle theft who’ve taken measures to thwart thieves. She finds out which Ottawa neighbourhoods and types of cars are targeted most often.

How did Hitler’s car end up in Ottawa?

Dec 02 2024 16 mins

If you round a corner at the Canadian War Museum, you’ll come across an imposing black armoured car. It belonged to none other than Adolf Hitler. How on earth did one of Hitler’s cars end up in Ottawa? And how does the museum balance public interest with critics who say it “glamourizes Nazism”?

How is Ottawa's housing crisis putting people fleeing violence in even more danger?

Nov 25 2024 20 mins

It can now take years for someone who has escaped domestic violence to find an affordable place to live in Ottawa. Robyn Bresnahan visits a shelter that is supposed to be a temporary refuge – but has become much more permanent for one woman and her family.

Why do Ottawa's racialized and low-income neighbourhoods tend to have fewer trees and what's being done about it?

Nov 18 2024 14 mins

When it comes to trees, not all neighbourhoods are equal. Robyn Bresnahan takes a stroll from a “have” into a “have not” community with two tree experts to learn about why tree equity matters and what the City is doing to achieve it.