“Ottawaisms” began as a collection of complaints sitting in Mira’s notes app.
“I initially just started noting down silly, little funny things, and I was going to make a zine about how much I hated Ottawa,” said Mira, one of three anonymous creators of the @ottawaisms X and Instagram accounts.
She designed the zine and kept noting observations about the city, but that project was put on hold for a while.
Complaining about Ottawa, however, remained a topic of discussion among her friends.
“It had always been a topic of conversation between friends about, oh, I hate Ottawa, like this and that,” she said.
Many of those complaints were the kinds of shared experiences that seemed to unite Ottawa residents: running into the same people everywhere, waiting for buses, and certain peculiar habits of city residents.
Eventually, Mira brought Katie into the idea. The pair launched an X account where they posted those observations whenever they were bored.
“So I spoke to Katie about it, and we had opened up this Twitter account … it was like (a) very informal, casual tweet whenever we were bored, but now it is what it is now,” she said.
Operating under the handle @ottawaisms, the account now has roughly 10,000 followers on Instagram and another 3,000 on X. Somewhere along the way, a project rooted in complaints became something closer to a celebration of the city itself.
The account is run by three people, who have chosen to remain anonymous: Mira, Katie, and Adri.
For Katie, humour was partly a response to Ottawa’s reputation.
‘Ottawa was always seen as this very sterile city, so joking about it and being lighthearted about it makes it a bit less serious.’
— Katie, co-founder of @ottawaisms X and Instagram accounts
“Ottawa was always seen as this very sterile city, so joking about it and being lighthearted about it makes it a bit less serious, I suppose,” she said, adding that there are “less opportunities for people to make fun of us if we do it ourselves.”
That approach appears to resonate with followers, many of whom see the account as a reflection of experiences that rarely make it into conversations about the city.
“It’s an important part of community in our age in Ottawa, especially because it kind of exposes you to people that you may otherwise not run into, if you’re not outside of your social niche, or outside of your university, or your job, or whatever, and you can kind of unite around poking a bit of fun at the city you all live in,” said Jai Morjaria, a recent graduate of Carleton University.
“I think it’s great for community in Ottawa,” he added.
For follower Yanjano Banda, the appeal lies in seeing a version of Ottawa that feels more recognizable than the one typically presented online.
“I thought it was bringing a new and refreshing view on Ottawa culture that I could relate to, especially being someone who’s, like, young, is in academia, enjoys the art and city,” she said.
She said the account also reflects her experiences with Ottawa’s people, arts community and even the dating scene, and “spoke to a truth about living in Ottawa” that more “cookie-cutter” accounts miss.
She also pointed to a lack of local pride she finds strange.
“There are not that many people who are patriotic or like actively proud to call . . . Ottawa their home,” she said.
Nir Hagigi, also a follower of @ottawaisms, said it succeeds because it embraces both sides of Ottawa.
“I think this is an account that shows us the things that we all love about Ottawa, and also the things that we all don’t like about Ottawa.”
He added: “Each person has their own thoughts about what makes this city their home, and what makes this city wonderful.”
The account also drew attention during the viral moment around Heated Rivalry, the Canadian hockey romance TV series created by Jacob Tierney and adapted from the novels of Nova Scotia writer Rachel Reid’s.
The show, about two rival professional hockey stars concealing their secret relationship, became Crave’s most-watched original series to date after its late-2025 premiere. Its central character, Shane Hollander, is from Ottawa, and the @ottawaisms account saw a surge of attention as the series went viral.
‘I’ve really grown to appreciate what makes Ottawa Ottawa, not in relation to anything outside of it, or not being like, oh, we’re better than XYZ. Just loving it because it’s Ottawa, because of its little quirks and things.’
— Mira, co-founder of @ottawaisms
For the creators, however, the shift from complaints to affection remains the most important part of the story.
“I think it’s giving people an excuse to actually like their city” Mira said.
Over time, she added, she has come to appreciate Ottawa on its own terms.
“I’ve really grown to appreciate what makes Ottawa Ottawa, not in relation to anything outside of it, or not being like, oh, we’re better than XYZ.” she said. “Just loving it because it’s Ottawa, because of its little quirks and things.”
The city does not need to borrow its identity from elsewhere, she added.
“We don’t always have to relegate our cultural consumption and enjoyment in cities like Toronto or Montreal. We have a lot here already,” she said.
Katie said that affection for Ottawa is often met with skepticism.
“What’s considered the capital of Canada, I feel like we get a lot of slack, and then if anyone expresses any sort of idea that they actually like living here,” she said, “it’s immediately shot down.”
Adri, the account’s third creator, had a message for anyone who insists Ottawa is dull.
“You’re actually the boring one, if you cannot find charm and fun in everything. We’re so quick to be negative and to find everything wrong with something.”
As the account has grown, so has its sense of what it might do. The creators have begun connecting with city councillors, particularly downtown, ahead of the upcoming mayoral election.
Some supporters have suggested the account now has the power to push for change, something Adri finds both exciting and intimidating.
“A couple of people have told us that it’s great, but it’s also a little bit scary,” they said.
Some of that community-building happens through stickers placed around the city. The creators have adopted a graffiti-tag aesthetic, including one sticker that reads “bonjour, je m’appelle” — a playful nod to Ottawa’s bilingual identity.
“It’s half advertising, half love for the city,” Mira said.
The zine idea has recently been revived. The trio’s latest project is a planned zine called Summer in the City, designed to showcase Ottawa through the eyes of the people who live there. The creators put out a call for anonymous submissions, hoping to make the project larger than their own social circles.
“We don’t want it to be just like our voices. We want it to echo other people’s voices and other people’s stuff,” Adri said.
The response surpassed their expectations.
“It is overwhelming, the number of submissions we got firsthand, and the love and effort that’s put into them,” Mira said.
For Adri, that outpouring of enthusiasm revealed something fundamental about the city.
“Everyone’s got their niche Ottawa thing,” they said. “Everyone has their Ottawaism.”
