Located just to the west of the National Capital Commission Greenbelt, it is one of the largest of several communities that surround central Ottawa.

The area that is today Kanata was originally part of the March Township, and was first settled by Europeans in the early 19th century.

Modern Kanata is largely the creation of Bill Teron, a developer and urban planner who purchased over 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of rural land and set about building a model community.

A reflection of the garden city movement, the area was divided into a series of communities, each of which was intended to have its own commercial centre and unique culture.

These include Beaverbrook, Glen Cairn, Bridlewood, Katimavik, Hazeldean, Morgan's Grant, and Kanata Lakes.

[6] The community grew rapidly due to the influx of hi-tech workers looking to capitalize on the new economic opportunities.

[7] On September 20, 1998, the city of Kanata dedicated a cenotaph in Village Green Memorial Park to those who served their country in war and peace.

Kanata remains home to many of the major hi-tech employers of Ottawa, such as Ericsson, Avaya, Juniper Networks, Research In Motion, Mitel, March Networks, Nokia, Bridgewater Systems, DragonWave, Solace, Protecode, Dell Canada, HP, Smart Technologies, Norpak, MDS Nordion, Breconridge, AMCC, Cisco, and Ciena.

Nortel Networks and the former Bell-Northern Research had a large campus of buildings just outside the Kanata boundary to the east.

Bells Corners is itself a hi-tech suburb that was established around 1950, and was home to such Canadian technology icons as Computing Devices Canada, the Ottawa-based defence electronics company (bought by General Dynamics).

A growing number of people employed in the hi-tech industry reside in the communities of Richmond and Stittsville owing to their close proximity to the larger tech hub of Kanata.

Many high-tech companies reside in this area including MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, BlackBerry, Nokia, Dell, Mitel, Bridgewater Systems, Solace, AMD, Protecode, Inphi Corporation, Ciena, and Cisco.

It has a main arterial street called Kanata Ave. which runs north–south all the way to the 417 (where it then switches to Castlefrank Road that continues south past Glen Cairn).

North of the 417, this area has a large mix of high density homes (townhomes and stacked townhomes) to the east, as well as Kanata's major shopping area called Kanata Entertainment Centrum which houses many big-box stores, as well as Landmark Cinemas and its own shopping centre.

As one ventures further to the west, towards Terry Fox Drive, the residential switches from townhomes developments to single family homes.

Glen Cairn features some low income housing, and is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Kanata, along with Beaverbrook.

A Real Canadian Superstore recently opened and a large residential/small office development is under construction in the south end of the KSBP.

From 1994 to 2000, the area was represented on regional council by Kanata native Alex Munter, then a member of the New Democratic Party.

On November 13, 2006, Munter lost to Larry O'Brien in his bid to be mayor of Ottawa, though he carried Kanata.

Kanata Research Park is a significant location for several hi-tech companies, including Mitel, Ericsson, BlackBerry Canada, Halogen Software, DragonWave, Wesley Clover, Ciena and Nokia.

[13] Kanata is home to the Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey team, who play at Canadian Tire Centre.

The annual Bell Capital Cup youth minor amateur ice hockey tournament is held at the Sensplex during the Christmas holiday break.