Kammala wannan jumla: Montreal ita ce babban birnin lardin Kanada daga 1844 zuwa 1849, amma ta rasa matsayinta lokacin da taron jama'ar Tory
sun kona ginin majalisar don nuna rashin amincewa da dokar tawaye. Bayan haka, babban birnin ya juya tsakanin Quebec City da Toronto har zuwa 1857, Sarauniya Victoria da kanta ta kafa Ottawa a matsayin babban birnin saboda dalilai na dabaru. Dalilai biyu ne suka sa ya yi hakan. Na farko, saboda yana cikin lardin Kanada, ba shi da haɗari ga hare-hare daga Amurka. Abu na biyu, kuma watakila mafi mahimmanci, saboda yana kan iyakar tsakanin Faransa da Ingilishi Kanada, Ottawa an gan shi a matsayin sulhu tsakanin Montreal, Toronto, Kingston da Quebec City, waɗanda duk suna fafatawa don zama babban birnin ƙasar matasa. Ottawa ya ci gaba da matsayi a matsayin babban birnin Kanada lokacin da lardin Kanada ya shiga Nova Scotia da New Brunswick don samar da Dominion na Kanada a 1867.