Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway will be renamed Kichi Zībī Mīkan, with a signage unveiling ceremony to be held later in September.
The National Capital Commission (NCC) approved the name change on June 22. The federal Crown corporation said the Algonquin Nation name was selected after a public engagement with the indigenous community that began in spring 2023.
The new name, Kichi Zībī Mīkan (pronounced kitchi zee-bee MEE-khan), meaning “Great River Road,” references the Algonquin name of the Ottawa River, as well as the parkway’s original name before 2012, the “Ottawa River Parkway.”
“This name was selected through an Algonquin naming and engagement exercise, reflecting the longstanding and important relationship of the Algonquin Nation to the Ottawa River along which the parkway runs,” the NCC said in a statement….