Who is she?
Carla Salazar is an Ottawa-based social media influencer, who runs the “Ottawa is not boring” blog and Instagram page.
What’s her background?
Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Salazar says on her blog page that she loves and feels proud of her home country. After marrying a Canadian, however, she says she knew that she’d eventually move here. They relocated to Ottawa in 2018.
What is she known for in Ottawa?
Salazar’s “Ottawa is not boring” blog runs weekly articles highlighting events and activities to do in the city. These range from the newest musicals appearing at the National Arts Centre to local cultural festivals. “Ottawa is not boring” is also on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Her Instagram account, @ottawaisnotboring, has more than 95,000 followers, and her blog won Blog of the Year at the 2023 Ottawa Awards.
She says she wants to change the perspective some have about Ottawa. “So many newcomers, especially those who moved in the middle of the pandemic, really thought that Ottawa was a dead city, because that was what it looked like. So when all the events were coming back, I thought, well, I want to show these people, these newcomers, what they can find in Ottawa,” Salazar told the Ottawa Business Journal.
What do people say about her?
Robyn Bresnahan, host of CBC’s This is Ottawa podcast, told Capital Current in an email that she admires Salazar’s enthusiasm about the city. “Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to really appreciate what you have in a city. Carla is exactly that,” said Bresnahan. “Her posts are joyful, curious and celebrate Ottawa. I’m not surprised she has amassed so many followers. People want to see the good in the city they live in.”
What’s something people don’t know about her?
Though her evident love for the city’s events and culture is on full display, Salazar says that her favourite part of living in Ottawa is how safe she feels. “Coming from a country that has experienced high levels of violence and crime in the past, the security I feel here is the most valuable thing to me,” said Salazar.
