Kanata is one of the largest suburbs of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located about 22 km (14 mi) west-southwest of the city’s downtown, Kanata had a population of 80,781 (population centre: 101,760) as of 2011 and is growing rapidly. Before it was amalgamated into Ottawa in 2001, it was one of the fastest growing cities in Canada and the fastest growing community in Eastern Ontario. Located just to the west of the National Capital Commission Greenbelt, it is one of the largest of several communities that surround central Ottawa. It is a planned community and an important hi-tech centre.
Situated in the Ottawa Valley, Kanata is located about 22 km (14 mi) west-southwest of Downtown Ottawa along Highway 417 at a latitude of 45°18′ North and a longitude of 75°55′ West, with an area of 139 km2 (54 sq mi). Its northern end is just to the west of the Ottawa River.
To the east, Kanata is separated from the former City of Nepean by the National Capital Commission’s Greenbelt. The community of Bells Corners borders the inner side of the Greenbelt. Bells Corners is itself a hi-tech suburb that was established around 1950, and was home to such Canadian technology icons as Computing Devices Canada, the Ottawa-based defence electronics company (bought by General Dynamics), which blazed the trail for later defence technology firms, in what is now unofficially known as Silicon Valley North, or Kanata.
