The Rockcliffe Lands: Ottawa's Old Air Base Becoming Wateridge Village
The Rockcliffe Lands: Ottawa's Old Air Base Becoming Wateridge Village
From Mail Planes to Military Base
Long before it was a construction site, this land was one of the busiest airfields in the country. The Royal Air Force set up an airstrip in Rockcliffe in 1918 for experimental mail flights, and by 1920 it was one of the first five stations the newly formed Canadian Air Board opened for flying operations. It became RCAF Station Ottawa in 1936 and RCAF Station Rockcliffe in 1940, and through the Second World War it was a hub for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and transatlantic mail flights.
In 1945, it hosted Canada's first jet aircraft demonstration. Flight testing moved elsewhere in 1957, regular RCAF flying wound down by 1964, and the Department of National Defence finally ended its military presence on the site in 1994, after more than 75 years of continuous use.
From Surplus Land to a Development Site
Once the military moved out, the roughly 310-acre property became surplus federal land, and ownership passed to Canada Lands Company, the Crown corporation that handles exactly this kind of conversion. Before anything could be built, the Algonquins of Ontario filed a land claim in 2007 covering the site; that claim was settled in 2011 through a Participation Agreement that gave the Algonquins ongoing consultation rights and a share in the project's economic benefits.
With that settled, Canada Lands Company launched its public redevelopment plan in 2012, built around sustainable design, significant green space, and a commitment to commemorate both the base's military history and the land's First Nations heritage.
Wateridge Village, Still Under Construction
The community going up on the old base is called Wateridge Village. The first phase just 214 lots launched in late 2016, and the first homeowners moved in by October 2017. The long-term vision is much bigger: roughly 5,300 homes and condos for about 9,500 residents, built out in stages over 15 to 20 years, with a mix of detached houses, semis, rows, mid-rise, and some high-rise buildings, plus a planned main street, parks, and schools.
It's still a work in progress today, with new phases continuing to launch and build out. A piece of the original aviation history survives alongside the new houses, too the Rockcliffe Flying Club and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum still operate on a portion of the old airfield.
The location is the real draw. Wateridge Village sits just steps from the Ottawa River and only minutes from downtown, with parks and pathways woven through the community itself. Right at its doorstep, the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway which runs along the river from the Aviation Parkway out toward Orléans — closes to cars every weekend and holiday Monday from May through October, handed over to cyclists, runners, and inline skaters instead. That kind of everyday access to the river and the core, with a car-free parkway on your doorstep all summer, is keeping the resale market active, with listings generating steady interest and selling quickly.
The Takeaway
Ottawa has a real talent for turning land once written off as unbuildable into some of its best new neighbourhoods. It just takes patience, the right conditions, and a few decades to get there and Wateridge Village is shaping up to be one of the better examples yet.
Ready to start your home buying journey in Ottawa? We'd love to be part of it. Reach out to us at OttawaSelect.ca — we work with first-time buyers regularly and know how to make a process that can feel overwhelming feel completely manageable.
