Before you read on
- When you race
- 21–25 April 2027
- How many nights to book
- 3 nights
- Who this race suits
- The longest daylight on the calendar, in a walkable capital, once the venue is known.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International (YOW), About CAD 30 by rideshare into the city. The venue is unannounced, so no transfer can be given
- Cost for the weekend
- CAD 187 (USD 135) per person, Flights, rooms and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
The longest daylight on the calendar, in a compact capital, at a venue nobody has named yet.
Reasons to
- Nearly fourteen hours of daylight, the longest of any race here.
- The city is compact and walkable, with canal and river paths through the middle.
- An ordinary meal is about CAD 25 and a day on the network CAD 12.25.
- Montreal is two hours away by train if you want to add a city.
Reasons not to
- Hyrox has not confirmed the 2027 venue, so nothing about the journey can be planned.
- It still freezes overnight in late April, at 1°C (35°F).
- Rain falls on about eleven days in April, more often than anywhere else here.
- The two plausible buildings are downtown and by the airport, which are not interchangeable.
Conditions on the day
BIOTHERM HYROX Ottawa runs April 21st, 2027 to April 25th, 2027 at EY Centre. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
Cold, wet and barely out of winter
12°C (53°F) by day, 1°C (35°F) at night
Ottawa in late April
- The April average reaches 12°C (53°F) by day and falls to 1°C (35°F) at night.
- It freezes overnight, which no other race on this part of the calendar does.
- 72mm of rain falls across about eleven days, the most frequent rain here.
- Daylight runs 06:07 to 19:56, nearly fourteen hours, the longest on this calendar.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Where this city races
EY Centre
April 21st, 2027
BIOTHERM HYROX Ottawa
- Hyrox has not published the hall for this race yet. This is where Ottawa raced on May 14th, 2026, which is the best available answer until the official listing names one.
- Check the official event page before you book anything that depends on the address
The venue at a glance
- Address
- Uplands Drive, Gloucester-Southgate, Ottawa, by the airport. This was the venue on May 14th, 2026, and Hyrox has not yet named one for this race.
- Nearest station
- The station serving the venue (unknown until the venue is named)
- Parking
- Unknown. No venue has been announced, so no parking arrangement exists to publish.
- From the nearest hotel
- central, venue unannounced from Hotels in the ByWard Market
- Altitude
- 76m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Ottawa.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Ottawa.
Ottawa has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
EY Centre, your race is in this building
The trade and exhibition centre beside Ottawa airport, about ten kilometres south of Parliament Hill. This is where Ottawa raced in May 2026, and Hyrox has not confirmed it for April 2027.
Known for. Ottawa trade shows, and the May 2026 Hyrox, which drew 13,639 results.
The building. An exhibition hall out by the runways, which is a very different race to travel to than the Shaw Centre downtown.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page a few days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At whichever venue is announced, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Ottawa one admits you to. Check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
Unknown until the venue is named. OC Transpo covers the city at CAD 4.10 a journey or CAD 12.25 for the day.
What you need to book
Before you book
The listing covers 21 to 25 April, five days, and the venue is still unnamed. Treat both as unsettled until the page updates.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
Montreal is two hours by train and has far more international routes, which is often the cheaper way in.
Search flights to OttawaBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in OttawaSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in OttawaYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Eating, three days | CAD 150 | $108 |
| Travel, a day pass each day | CAD 37 | $27 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | CAD 187 | $135 |
Getting to Ottawa
Ottawa's airport is about thirty Canadian dollars from the city by rideshare, with the O-Train running south to it.
OC Transpo
Buses and the O-Train cover the city at CAD 4.10 a journey or CAD 12.25 for the day. Which route you need depends on the unannounced venue.
From the airport
About thirty dollars by rideshare into the city, with the O-Train running south to the terminal as the cheaper option.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
Hold the last leg until the venue is confirmed, because the two candidates sit on opposite sides of the city.
Getting to the venue
The ByWard Market and Centretown are the central options. Hold off on booking anything non-refundable until the venue is announced.
A day pass is CAD 12.25 against CAD 4.10 a journey, so it pays for itself on the third trip. Which line you will want depends entirely on where the race lands, and Hyrox has not said.
Where to stay
The venue is unannounced, so none of these can be ranked by distance to it. They are ranked by how good a base they make.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels in the ByWard Market
The restaurant and nightlife district beside Parliament, walkable to most of the centre. The obvious base while the venue is unknown.
2. Hotels in Centretown
The office and shopping centre south of Parliament, on the O-Train and close to the Shaw Centre if that is where the race lands.
3. Hotels in the Glebe
A residential district along the canal with independent shops and quieter streets. It is pleasant, and further from both candidate venues.
Book something refundable. The venue is unannounced and Ottawa's two plausible buildings are downtown and by the airport, which would mean very different choices.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Ottawa is compact and walkable around Parliament, with the suburbs spreading east and south along the transit lines.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ByWard Market | central, venue unannounced | The old market quarter beside Parliament, with the restaurants, the bars and the produce stalls. The liveliest part of the city. | |
| Centretown | central, venue unannounced | The downtown core south of Parliament, with the offices, the shops and the O-Train through it. | |
| The Glebe | about 10 min by bus | A residential district along the canal, with independent shops on Bank Street and a calmer feel. | |
| Hintonburg | about 15 min by bus | West of downtown, with the better restaurants, a farmers' market and a growing arts scene. | |
| Westboro | about 20 min by bus | Further west along the river, with boutiques and access to the riverside trails. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Zak's Diner
An all-day diner in the ByWard Market doing plain breakfast plates for eighteen to twenty-five dollars. Open late and uncomplicated.
Centretown
The downtown core has ordinary kitchens doing pasta and grilled chicken, on the O-Train and close to whichever venue is announced.
Ottawa eats poutine, shawarma and a fried pastry invented here, and all three are cheap.
BeaverTails
A flat fried pastry stretched to the shape its name suggests, invented in Ontario and sold from a stall in the market. Sugar and cinnamon is the plain one.
Shawarma
Ottawa has an unusual density of Lebanese shawarma places, and Shawarma Palace on Rideau is the one people name. About ten dollars a wrap.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- Proper cold-weather kit. It still freezes overnight in late April, at 1°C (35°F).
- Waterproofs. Rain falls on about eleven days of the month, the most frequent on this calendar.
- Layers for the eleven-degree swing to 12°C (53°F) by afternoon.
Quick tips
- Buy a day pass at CAD 12.25 rather than singles at CAD 4.10.
- Keep accommodation refundable until Hyrox names the venue.
The ByWard Market and Centretown both have supermarkets within a few minutes. Canadian shops keep long hours including Sundays.
The last race in Ottawa
Ottawa raced at the EY Centre in May 2026, but Hyrox has not confirmed a building for April 2027, so the journey cannot be planned yet.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- The official page for 2027 still reads VENUE INFORMATION COMING SOON.
- A single OC Transpo journey is CAD 4.10 by card, and a day pass is CAD 12.25.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- Book flexible accommodation until the venue is confirmed. The two candidates are on opposite sides of the city.
- A poutine festival runs 23 to 25 April, inside the race window.
What else is on that weekend
A poutine festival inside the race window, and two trade shows just before it.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orléans PoutineFest | 23 to 25 April | Centrum Plaza, Orléans | Inside the race window, in the eastern suburbs. More useful than disruptive unless you are staying out that way. |
| The Travel and Vacation Show | 10 to 11 April | Shaw Centre, downtown | Ten days before the race, in one of the buildings Hyrox might use. Over well before. |
| Cottage Life and Backyard Show | 16 to 18 April | EY Centre, by the airport | In the other candidate building downtown, finishing three days before the race window opens. |
| The Rideau Canal | All weekend | Through the city | The skateway has melted by late April, but the canal paths run for kilometres and are the best running here. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
Parliament Hill
Gothic revival blocks on a bluff above the Ottawa River, with the Peace Tower over them. The Centre Block is under a long restoration, so check what is open.
The National Gallery
A glass and granite building by Moshe Safdie holding the best Canadian collection anywhere, with Louise Bourgeois's giant spider outside it.
The Canadian War Museum
A low concrete building on the river, and one of the better war museums anywhere. Sober rather than triumphal.
The ByWard Market
A working market since 1826, with produce stalls outside and restaurants around them. The centre of the city's eating.
What to do
The Rideau Canal paths
Eight kilometres of flat paved path along the canal from downtown to Dow's Lake, with no traffic. The obvious shake-out in any weather.
The Ottawa River pathway
A separated trail along the north edge of the city, past Parliament and the war museum, with Gatineau across the water.
Gatineau Park
Hills and lakes twenty minutes across the river in Quebec, with trails and the Mackenzie King estate. A real half day out.
Cross to Quebec
Gatineau is over one bridge and is a different province with a different language and cheaper food. Fifteen minutes on foot from the market.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Hyrox. HYROX is a trademark of its owner, used only to describe the races discussed.
This page links to booking and travel sites. Where we have an affiliate arrangement with one we may earn a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we list, or the order it appears in.
Last updated November 7th, 2026.