Bank Street and The Bank Street Village

Boasting of over 500 fantastic shops, services, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and so much more, Bank Street offers an experience that you won’t soon forget. Located south of Parliament Hill and stretching 15 city blocks, this trendy Ottawa area has just what you need. No matter whether you’re in the mood to shop for home décor products, today’s latest fashions, great new electronics or anything else, you can be sure that the Bank Street Promenade has what you want and so much more.

The Bank Street Village neighbourhood is the closest thing Ottawa has to a ‘gay’ village, being the home to over 35 gay and gay-friendly businesses and service organizations.  You, literally, can get everything you need without leaving the village...from accommodation to health care to groceries to sex toys...all are within a short walk!  That being said, the area is not clearly designated as gay so check out our Dorothy’s Closet GLBT map of Bank Street to get the ‘who’s who’.

Speaking of closeted neighbourhoods, Bank Street is also home to an important GLBT initiative spear-headed by an organization called ‘The Village/Le village’.  The goal of this non-profit group is to work towards the creation of a visible gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-friendly Village in Ottawa's downtown core, roughly covering a six by two block area surrounding Bank Street, from Nepean to James Streets (north to south) and Kent and O'Connor Streets (west to east).  To find out more about this initiative, check out their web site at www.villageottawa.com.  

Bank Street Business Directory

*Gay Rating: GO (gay owned) | GF (gay Friendly ) | GR (gay run)