Barrhaven, Ontario - Barrhaven is a rapidly growing suburban neighbourhood in the southwest of the urban area of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, about 17 km (11 mi) southwest of downtown Ottawa. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa in 2001, Barrhaven was part of the City of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 72,324.

Since Barrhaven has been built so quickly and so recently like most North American suburbs, it has a very uniform feel, considering how big it is. Almost every street consists of town houses with some streets having comparatively large suburban houses. In the older parts of Barrhaven, the streets are curvilinear, never forming a grid as they do in older parts of Ottawa.

Barrhaven contains several public and Catholic schools and numerous parks and playgrounds, mainly built in since 2000. It is also home to the Walter Baker Sports Centre which contains a library and other facilities. The main commercial district surrounds the intersection of Strandherd Drive and Greenbank Road, with a seven-screen cinema, Loblaws, Wal-Mart, Indigo Books and Music, Staples, Winners, Homesense, Sobeys, Sport Chek, Starbucks, Your Independent Grocer, Heart & Crown, and Best Buy, among others. The Minto Recreation Complex, a new multi-use community center at the corner of Cambrian and Greenbank, opened in 2014. A major employment district was established in 2015 in the area west of Strandherd Drive adjacent to Highway 416, known as the CitiGate corporate campus. A Costco store is planned to open in this area in fall 2016, including several other retail establishments.

Barrhaven is served by seven local bus routes: 170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 177 and 186. These routes serve the local streets of Barrhaven as well as serving several stations on the Transitway network where a transfer can be made to Ottawa's Rapid Transit system with Route 95, 94 and 99. There are five express bus routes, 70, 71, 73, 72 (previously the 76), and 77, that provide direct service to downtown Ottawa during the morning rush hour and from downtown during the afternoon rush hour; travel time is approximately 30 minutes. Route 186 runs from the Fallowfield Station to Manotick, stopping in the growing Stonebridge community before travelling on the lower half of Jockvale before connecting with Prince of Wales Drive. Intercity Via Rail connections can be made at Fallowfield railway station to Montreal and Toronto.

Until 2006, it had been planned that the north-south light-rail O-Train (today's Trillium Line) would be extended to the centre of Barrhaven near Riocan Marketplace via Riverside South. The project was cancelled on December 14, 2006, by Ottawa City Council, which decided to focus on building rail-based rapid transit lines in the inner city instead. Rail-based rapid transit to Barrhaven is not expected to be introduced until after 2031, when the three lines in the inner city are expected to be completed. On January 2, 2007, OC Transpo opened the Strandherd Transitway Station and Park & Ride lot in Barrhaven. Directly across from the Riocan/Barrhaven Shopping Centre's Wal-Mart & TD Bank, the facility has parking space for about 330 cars. It was built to help with overcrowding at the Fallowfield Station and meet the increased demand for park and ride spaces in the community. Rapid transit route 95 takes approximately 10 minutes to travel between Fallowfield Station and Strandherd Station, and 2 minutes between Strandherd Station and Barrhaven Centre. The Province of Ontario funded one-third of the $5 million cost.

In April 2011, the transitway (BRT) network was expanded in Barrhaven. One feature was the extension of Route 94 to the intersection of Woodroffe and Strandherd. A new stretch of BRT was also constructed between Fallowfield and Strandherd to reduce travel times on Route 95. In September 2014, a new BRT route was established on Chapman Mills Drive, using a graveyard median from the canceled south-western lrt route. New route 99 starts at Barrhaven Centre and using new Beatrice Station proceeds to Greenboro Transitway and O-Train Terminus at non-peak hours, via Riverside South (Vimy Ridge Bridge) and Leitrim Station. At peak hours the 99, goes all the way to Lebreton via South-Eastern Transitway and Downtown. This route sees limited use at non-peak times with buses running near empty outside the morning and afternoon commute.

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