Bytown Beginnings

After a founding meeting late in 2002, the Club began operations on 01 January 2003.

“Bytown” was the name of the community that later became Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. The name commemorates the British military engineer Colonel John By, who, from 1827 to 1832, supervised the construction of the 200km Rideau Canal that joins the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa rivers. The city portion of the Canal has become one of the capital’s most recognizable and attractive features. The Bytown name lives on in many organizations, businesses and landmarks.