The ByWard Market (French: Marché By), is a retail and entertainment district in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

[1] The name refers to the old "By Ward" of the City of Ottawa ('By' deriving from the surname of the engineer, John By, who was the area's original surveyor).

[4] The market building is open year-round, and open-air stalls offering fresh produce and flowers are operated in the warmer months.

The ByWard Market has been an area of constant change, adapting to the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of downtown Ottawa, as well as trends in Canadian society as a whole.

Recently, a multitude of restaurants and specialty food stores have sprouted around the market area, making this neighbourhood one of the liveliest in Ottawa outside of normal business hours.

A four-block area around the market provides the densest concentration of eating places, bars, and nightclubs in the National Capital Region.

Having acquired a reputation as the city's premier bar district, the Byward Market is thronged (brimming) at night with university students and other young adults.

The building's design, by noted architect David Childs, was supposedly widely criticized by surrounding residents, as one particular Ottawa Sun newspaper article reported that the bronze building-block sculpture created by Joel Shapiro and dedicated by Hillary Clinton was "glaringly and gratingly American", whereas some critics declared that the building's new design "reflected a cautious world view".

The Market is located in close proximity to the downtown Rideau Centre shopping mall, to Parliament Hill, and to a number of foreign embassies.

However, most of the Lower Town site was covered with swampland, which had to be drained; excess water from the canal was released through a sluice gate, which became known as the By Wash: it ran through Lower Town and emptied into the Rideau River; for this reason, as well as to leave room for a proposed market building and courthouse, Lt. Col. By designed both George and York Street to be 132 feet (40 m) wide.

Not only physically, by the canal, but also ethnically, politically, and economically: where Upper Town was settled by officers, tradesmen, and professionals, most of whom were Protestants and Anglicans of English or Scottish descent, Lower Town was settled by labourers who had come to Bytown seeking employment during the building of the canal; these inhabitants were mainly Catholic Irish immigrants and French Canadians.

This was the original market building, large for the time, and constructed of timber with dovetailed corners, a veranda on each side, and an attached weighing machine.

Farm communities shipped goods up the Ottawa River or along the Rideau waterway to merchants in the Lower Town Market.

The mixed farming of the surrounding region was dependent on Bytown for the distribution of its agricultural goods, and the local community required a market to sustain its growth.

When Bytown was incorporated as a town on July 28, 1847, the new city council recognized the need for an organized market area, and made this one of their first priorities.

In Upper Town, Nicholas Sparks offered a piece of his land near Sappers Bridge for the West Ward Market.

From 1840 to 1870, the economic base of Ottawa changed drastically, on account of the removal of the British military, the end of the continental fur trade, and the expansion of the lumber industry.

With the opening of the canal and the incorporation of the city in 1855, Ottawa was forced to expand its role as a regional trading centre in agricultural products and services.

Other businesses operating in the marketplace included retail outlets for agricultural machinery, flour and feed traders, grocery provisioners, hardware suppliers and merchants engaged in similar import/export enterprises.

In addition butchers, fishmongers, and fresh fruit and vegetable merchants lined the streets facing the market building.

Constructed of white brick with limestone dressings, the building was distinguished by two towers which rose 60 feet (18 m) over the arched gateway at the south end.

The focus of the market was shifting as Rideau Street became an important commercial business area, and department stores were developing and becoming popular.

The side fronting York Street was turned into commercial space, and now houses two restaurants, a produce store and Aubrey's butcher shop, which has been in the market since 1908.

Since the 1840s, the ByWard Market has served as one of the principal hubs of commerce, entertainment and leisure activities in a locale that has been transformed from a remote colonial outpost to the centre of Canada's National Capital Region.

Nevertheless, Ottawa residents and tourists continue to gather in the area to purchase vegetables and groceries, as well as to enjoy the colourful vendors and street entertainment.