As it was long a separate village not under the jurisdiction of Ottawa's municipal government, Rockcliffe Park differs from the rest of the city.

To the north, on the cliffs of the Ottawa River, there is public greenspace maintained by the National Capital Commission, also called Rockcliffe Park.

This heritage designation of properties was challenged in a landmark case of 270 Buchan Rd; in May 2019 the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal sided with the homeowner ordering that city to issue permit for demolition.

The downfall of the city’s case to protect the home was an admission that 721 property evaluations in Rockcliffe Park were not done correctly and that more errors could be uncovered in the future.

[9] In the case of Statler v. Ottawa (City), 2017 CarswellOnt 18749 (O.M.B), the Ontario Municipal Board ("OMB") made the decision that Heritage Conservation District studies adopted prior to the 2005 amendments to the OHA have no force in law; and, that the pre-2005 OHA did not control property, only structures, resulting in the lack of legal authority to regulate land.

Rockcliffe Park is and has been home to many Ottawa notables, including former prime ministers, senior civil servants, corporate leaders and many ambassadors to Canada.

Rockcliffe Park Public School, which was attended by the eldest princess, Beatrix, now calls its gymnasium Queen Juliana Hall.

The benchmark price for a single family home in Rockcliffe Park was $1,516,300 in August 2017, compared to $398,400 for the city of Ottawa as a whole.