On New Year 's Eve 1857 , Queen Victoria , as a symbolic and political gesture , was presented with the responsibility of selecting a location for the permanent capital of the Province of Canada . In reality , Prime Minister John A. Macdonald had assigned this selection process to the Executive Branch of the Government , as previous attempts to arrive at a consensus had ended in deadlock . The " Queen 's choice " turned out to be the small frontier town of Ottawa for two main reasons : Firstly , Ottawa 's isolated location in a back country surrounded by dense forest far from the Canada – US border and situated on a cliff face would make it more defensible from attack . Secondly , Ottawa was approximately midway between Toronto and Kingston ( in Canada West ) and Montreal and Quebec City ( in Canada East ) . Additionally , despite Ottawa 's regional isolation it had seasonal water transportation access to Montreal over the Ottawa River and to Kingston via the Rideau Waterway . By 1854 it also had a modern all season Bytown and Prescott Railway that carried passengers , lumber and supplies the 82-kilometres to Prescott on the Saint Lawrence River and beyond . Ottawa 's small size , it was thought , would make it less prone to rampaging politically motivated mobs , as had happened in the previous Canadian capitals . The government already owned the land that would eventually become Parliament Hill which they thought would be an ideal location for the Parliament Buildings . Ottawa was the only settlement of any substantial size that was already directly on the border of French populated former Lower Canada and English populated former Upper Canada thus additionally making the selection an important political compromise . Queen Victoria made her " Queen 's choice " very quickly just before welcoming in the New Year
previous Canadian capitals
Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal
Ottawa