[22] Foreign immigration plays a significant role in Ottawa's population growth.

[23] Foreign born residents make up 23.4 percent of Ottawa's population, in which many come from the United Kingdom, China, India, the United States, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, the Philippines, Vietnam, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti.

The Algonquian languages have been spoken for centuries by the Indigenous peoples and subsequently by the coureurs des bois and voyageurs of the Ottawa valley during the 1600s and 1700s.

[29] Members of visible minority groups (non-white/European) constitute 32.5 percent, while those of Indigenous origin make up 2.6% of the total population.

Non-Christian religions are also very well established in Ottawa, the largest being Islam: 9.9% (6.7% in 2011), Hinduism: 2% (1.4% in 2011), Buddhism: 1.2% (1.3% in 2011), and Judaism: 1.1% (1.2% in 2011.)