Kanata, Ontario - 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 has a population of 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.

The area that is today Kanata was originally part of the Township of March, and was first settled by Europeans in the early nineteenth century. One site dating from this era is Pinhey's Point.

It remained mainly agricultural until the 1960s when it became the site of heavy development. Modern Kanata is largely the creation of Bill Teron, a developer and urban planner who purchased over 3,000 acres (12 km2) of rural land and set about building a model community. Unlike other suburbs, Kanata was designed to have a mix of densities and commercial and residential properties. It contained large amounts of open space, and was to be surrounded by a greenbelt. A reflection of the garden city movement, the area was divided into a series of communities, each of which was intended to have their own commercial centres and unique cultures. These include Beaverbrook, Glen Cairn, Bridlewood, Katimavik, Hazeldean, Morgan's Grant, and Kanata Lakes.

The community grew rapidly due to the influx of high tech workers looking to capitalize on the new economical cityscape. The Province of Ontario incorporated Kanata as a city in 1978 out of the Township of March, and portions of the Township of Goulbourn and the Township of Nepean (subsequently the City of Nepean). On September 20, 1998, the city of Kanata dedicated a cenotaph in "Village Green Memorial Park" dedicated to those who served their country in War and Peace. It remained a city until 2001, when the province created a new (amalgamated) City of Ottawa that included the City of Kanata (pop. 59,700). The Castlefrank Road overpass which opened in December 2003 was re-named Valour Bridge on December 1, 2006 is dedicated to all Canadians who have served in defence of freedoms in the great battles and campaigns since the turn of the 20th century.

As of the 2006 census, the population of Kanata had increased to 85,000, and is now estimated to be just over 90,000. The city became an important hi-tech centre. DEC was one of the pioneer technology companies in Kanata. The DEC campus has been successively Digital, Compaq, HP, and is now the Gilmore Printing group of companies. Kanata remains home to many of the major hi-tech employers of Ottawa, such as Avaya, Juniper Networks, Research In Motion now BlackBerry, Mitel, March Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Bridgewater Systems, DragonWave, Solace Systems, CounterPath Corporation, Protecode, Dell Canada, HP, Smart Technologies, Norpak, MDS Nordion, Breconridge, AMCC, and Cisco Systems, Inc.. Nortel Technology and the former Bell-Northern Research had a major campus of buildings just outside the Kanata boundary to the East. The hi-tech industry is clustered along March Road, in the Kanata North Business Park and Kanata Research Park, and along Eagleson Road, in the Kanata South Business Park.

Kanata is home to the Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey team. The Senators play at Canadian Tire Centre. A women's Ottawa Senators team plays at the Bell Sensplex. The annual Bell Capital Cup youth minor amateur ice hockey tournament is held at the Sensplex during the Christmas holiday break. The Kanata Stallions junior team plays at the Kanata Recreational Complex. The Kanata Soccer Club is the largest sports club in Kanata and the second largest in the city with close to 4,500 players. The Kanata Rhythmic Gymnastics Club is the largest rhythmic gymnastics club in Ontario, and was founded by Head Coach Dasa Lelli in 1975. The Ottawa SkyHawks of the NBL will start their inaugural season at Canadian Tire Centre in 2013, before moving to the Ottawa Civic Centre when renovations are complex there.

Kanata is in the federal and provincial riding of Carleton—Mississippi Mills. Kanata is the largest centre in the riding, with more than half the population being in Kanata. Both federally and provincially, the riding is quite Conservative. Norm Sterling has represented the area for decades in the Ontario legislature. In 2000, the then riding of Lanark—Carleton was one of only two in Ontario to elect a Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament. While the area went Liberal for most of the 1990s, it was easily won by Conservative Gordon O'Connor in 2004, 2006, 2008, and most recently, 2011. O'Connor is the current Minister of State and Chief Government Whip (formerly Minister of National Defence and Minister of National Revenue) in Stephen Harper's cabinet.

On the municipal level, the area has been more centrist. From 1994 to 2000, the area was represented on regional council by Kanata native Alex Munter, then a member of the New Democratic Party. In 2000, Munter was elected as the representative to the new Ottawa City Council. Munter retired in 2003 and was replaced by Peggy Feltmate who, like Munter, was also seen as being one of the more progressive members of council. Redistricting prior to the 2006 Ottawa election has seen Kanata divided into two wards, Kanata North and Kanata South. On November 13, 2006, Alex Munter lost to Larry O'Brien in his bid to be mayor of Ottawa; Feltmate won in the ward of Kanata South; and Marianne Wilkinson, seen as one of the more right-wing, developer-friendly members of council, was elected Councillor of Kanata North. Feltmate retired in 2010 and the Kanata South seat was won by Allan Hubley.  Details