Thank you ALL for the information you have provided....its been really helpful, there is only so much research you can do on the internet so its great that some have you have taken the time to explain things. Lychee for example...I hadn't even considered that we've just been comparing rainfall amounts without considering when it rains.

Thank you all so much!!

No. It helps, but isn't required.

Ottawa is nice. Low rise buildings downtown, housing is pretty cheap, has a middle class family feel. No big commutes, snow is ploughed as it's a government town. Population is now 1m but that's because city limits keep pushing out.

I've lived in Ottawa for 20 years and it all depends on your idea of what a low rise building is. There are many 20+ storey buildings downtown and if it werent' for those etc, then the city limits would be pushed out further.

Correct. I am used to 40 odd stories in London and like that Ottawa is closer to 20 rather than skyscrapers.

According to Stats Canada note 2:

Low–rise apartment building refers to a building with fewer than five storeys and high–rise apartment building refers to a building of five or more storeys.

And there's a lot of places downtown that are less than 5 stories. Not office blocks but a lot of buildings.