Past issues

Every Ottawa Brew newsletter we've published. Newest first.

• Issue #12 · 2026-06-04

  Read →

  30,500 jobs gone, a $229M infrastructure hole, and Ottawa's fiscal reckoning ☕

  Thirty thousand five hundred jobs. That's how many Ottawa-area positions disappeared in the twelve months ending February 2026 – the steepest employment drop in Ontario. The unemployment rate now sits at 6.6%. The city's long-range financial plan, approved this week, puts a number on the infrastructure backlog: $229 million a year, with 130 facilities hitting end-of-life by 2035. Thursday in Ottawa: the numbers are in, and they're not comfortable.

• Issue #11 · 2026-06-03

  Read →

  Evan Solomon just handed Canada's cybersecurity team the most powerful AI on the planet ☕

  The capital's AI pivot isn't theoretical anymore. Canada has spent years debating AI strategy while other countries deployed it. That changed this week. Minister Evan Solomon confirmed Ottawa has joined Anthropic's Project Glasswing – giving the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity access to Claude Mythos, an AI model so capable Anthropic won't release it publicly. The government is using it to find zero-day vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure before adversaries do. Separately, uOttawa is restructuring how it connects its research to industry – and a federal workforce shift is quietly reshaping the public service. Wednesday in Ottawa: the people moves matter as much as the policy.

• Issue #10 · 2026-06-02

  Read →

  Canada wants 90,000 AI jobs. It still buys 85% of its cloud from U.S. firms. ☕

  Ottawa's policy week is already moving fast. The federal government is days away from releasing its national AI strategy – and the leaked draft is more ambitious than most expected. A Canadian Tech Growth Fund. Government equity stakes in AI companies. A target of 90,000 AI-related jobs by 2031. At the same time, the 'Buy Canadian' procurement threshold is quietly dropping from $25 million to $5 million, which means a lot more federal contracts are about to get a domestic-first filter. And at CANSEC last week, Ottawa-area defence firms reported the biggest show in the event's history. The capital's policy machine is running hot. Here's what you need to know.

• Issue #8 · 2026-05-21

  Read →

  Is Ottawa's office market about to get its first real break in five years? ☕

  The federal government has spent two years cutting its workforce and shrinking its office footprint. Now it's ordering 300,000 public servants back to their desks four days a week. The contradiction is obvious – and the commercial real estate market is already pricing it in. Downtown Ottawa's office availability rate hit 14.3% at the end of 2025, nearly double the pre-pandemic level. That number is about to move. Whether it moves in the right direction depends on whether the government can find enough desks for the people it's sending back. Spoiler: it can't.

• Issue #7 · 2026-05-17

  Read →

  Bill C-22, a quantum unicorn, and CityFolk's new home ☕

  Three stories worth your Sunday morning. Canada's tech sector is drawing a line in the sand over Bill C-22 – and the names signing on to oppose it read like a who's who of the industry. Apple, Signal, Shopify's CEO. Separately, a Sherbrooke quantum startup just crossed the billion-dollar threshold, making Canada home to four quantum unicorns. And Ottawa's summer music calendar got a lot more interesting this week. Here's what you need to know before the long weekend wraps up and the work week kicks off.

• Issue #6 · 2026-05-16

  Read →

  Rebecca Leslie scored twice. The Charge still lost. ☕

  Two overtime losses. One series. Everything still to play for. Two games in Montreal. Two overtime losses by a single goal. The Ottawa Charge are down 2-0 in the PWHL Walter Cup Finals – and somehow, the series feels closer than the scoreboard suggests. Rebecca Leslie has scored all four of Ottawa's goals across both games. The Charge outshot the Victoire in Game 1. They held a lead in Game 2. Both times, Montreal tied it in the final seconds and won in OT. Game 3 is Monday at Canadian Tire Centre. Ottawa has been here before. The city hasn't.

• Issue #5 · 2026-05-15

  Read →

  Nokia wants to double its Ottawa headcount — and Kanata is ready ☕

  Good morning, Capital. Here's what you missed while you were sleeping. Ottawa's tech sector woke up to some genuinely good news today — Nokia Canada is eyeing a major workforce expansion in Kanata, and Kinaxis just posted record profits. Meanwhile, Ottawa chip firms are winning federal dollars, and the sovereign AI debate is getting real. Pour yourself something strong. Let's get into it. ☕

• Issue #4 · 2026-05-14

  Read →

  Kinaxis just broke records — and global chaos is the reason ☕

  Good morning, Capital. Here's what you missed while you were sleeping. Kanata's Kinaxis just posted its best quarter ever — and the secret ingredient is geopolitical instability. Meanwhile, Ottawa's defence tech scene is heating up fast, the feds are writing cheques for AI companies, and city hall is debating whether to track drugs through the sewer system. (Yes, really.) We've also got the full picture on why Canadian VC is hitting a decade-low deal count — and what that means for Ottawa's startup founders trying to raise right now. Pour yourself something strong. Let's get into it. ☕

• Issue #3 · 2026-05-13

  Read →

  Kanata just got Canada's only nuclear test lab — and OC Transpo has a plan ☕

  Good morning, Capital. Here's what you missed while you were sleeping. Today's edition is a tale of two Ottawas: the one quietly building world-class defence infrastructure in Kanata, and the one still waiting for two-car trains to show up on time. Both stories matter — and both say something about where this city is headed. We've also got Kinaxis flexing on Bay Street, a jobs number that's better than the national picture, and the opening salvo in the Ottawa-vs-Toronto battle for Canada's new Defence Bank. Pour yourself something strong. Let's get into it. ☕

• Issue #2 · 2026-05-12

  Read →

  Ottawa's Photonic Valley moment, Kinaxis breaks records, and the Charge are back in the finals ☕

  Good morning, Capital. Here's what you missed while you were sleeping. Ottawa had a big week — and we're not just talking about the Charge punching their ticket to the Walter Cup Finals (though yes, that too). The federal government quietly dropped a bombshell: the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre is opening to private investment. If you haven't heard of it, you will. It's the only photonics foundry of its kind in North America, and some very smart people are comparing this moment to early Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, Kinaxis just posted its best quarter ever — record profit, record revenue, AI doing the heavy lifting. And Ottawa's AI minister confirmed Canada still has no semiconductor strategy, which is a choice. Pour yourself something strong. Let's get into it. ☕

• Issue #1 · 2026-05-11

  Read →

  Ottawa's Photonic Valley moment — and Kinaxis just had its best quarter ever

  Good morning, Capital. Here's what you missed while you were sleeping. Ottawa's tech scene had a big week — and we're not talking about the tulips. The federal government opened the door to private investment in the world's best photonics foundry, which happens to sit right here in the Ottawa Valley. Meanwhile, Kanata's Kinaxis posted a record quarter and its stock rewarded investors accordingly. On the policy front, the CRA's return-to-office math isn't adding up — literally — and the mayor's race is already getting spicy with five months still to go. Pour yourself something strong. Let's get into it. ☕