Parliament Hill and Buildings, Ontario, Canada

5Katie H 5:00 PM Aug 2, 2022

So good we did both tours
My family of children (age 5 and 8), parents and grandparents really enjoyed this tour. We had booked our House of Commons Tour online ahead of time about a month in advance. The ticket said proof of vaccination is required, but no one asked on either tour for it. Masks were required and provided. While I booked the house of commons tour well in advance, I booked the senate tour only 2 days in advance. We really enjoyed our tour guide for both tours, once you pass the security check in, there is a washroom and waiting area while you wait for your tour. You can only enter the security check 30 mins before your tour. If you can only choose one, I recommend the house of commons, but the senate was a cool experience too, as it is built inside a former train station.

4Geminican 5:00 PM Oct 29, 2022

People's House for the Canadians
The Canadian Parliament Building is one of "must visits" for Ottawa. The exterior architecture is eye-catching and is the landmark of Ottawa, you can't miss it. Better to reserve tickets online in advance. Unlike most parliaments in the world where both the Senate and House of Commons are located in the same building. The Senate is inside the Government Conference Center across street from Fairmont Chateau Laurier. About 10 minutes non-stop walk from the Parliament Building Entrance. Only the House of Commons is inside the Parliament Building. In Canada, it's located in two separate buildings. You need two separate tickets to enter both. One for the Senate and another one for the House of Commons. Both are worth visiting, so do both if you have time. AND, taking the guided tour is the ONLY way to enter both buildings. The tour offers two languages: English and French. Canada is a bilingual country. Each tour lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. All curators for the House of Commons are well trained and provided similar or not identical information. That shows high quality of the curators, though the curator quality at the Senate varies. Jacklyn, for example, was average, did not go into many details or share about activities and things that took place in the Senate. If you don't have advanced reservations, visit the visitor center inside of the Parliament Building will allow you to obtain entry tickets; and that's the ONLY way. If you don't have the ticket and showing up at the Senate, you can't enter. They will send you over to the Parliament Building and go back, which can be another 30-60 minute round trip assuming no long lines for ticket purchase. Be on time. Because it's so popular, if you are late, they may not be able to let you in because they want to control # of visitors inside of the building at any given time for security purpose. Most staff were helpful and courteous except for a staff called Gregg at the Parliament Visitor Center Entrance that was inflexible. When I arrived a bit late, he immediately told me I must queue in line and waited, perhaps catching the last 5 minutes of the tour if I was lucky. And if they couldn't clear the security, I would not be able to enter nor go for a later tour even if there were spots available. I asked him what I could see and couldn't see the last five minutes, he couldn't provide any specifics either, and tried to send me away. There were other staff who practiced active listening by providing specifics and helped me get a ticket for a later tour. I don't appreciate Gregg, but I am thankful for other staff who helped me work this out. When visiting the Parliament in UK, the curator talks about how Queen Elizabeth and members of the Senate and House of Commons would do on the day of opening the session each year. The Canadian parliament tours did not provide similar type of information, which I wish they had done it.