Located in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, Les Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa | University of Ottawa Press is the publishing house of the University of Ottawa, one of the top 10 research-intensive universities in the country and the largest bilingual university in the world. The press is North America’s flagship bilingual university publisher, one of the oldest university presses in Canada and the only French-language university press outside Quebec.
Founded in 1936, the press, now led by director Lara Mainville, has made it its mission “to enrich intellectual, cultural, and social life through excellence in academic and literary publishing in the context of a globalized world” and is committed to bilingualism, diversity, and inclusion, which extends to supporting Franco-Ontarians and francophones outside Quebec. Since its founding, the trailblazing press has released some 1,350 titles, more than 700 of which are currently still in print. In 2006, it created its open access program, which includes more than 100 titles. In 2025, 10 new and important backlist titles will be made available through the program.
The University of Ottawa Press typically publishes 25 to 30 titles a year, primarily in the social sciences and humanities, as well as a range of literary works. Its strongest categories include Canadian history—it has published exceptional works that contribute to a better understanding of Canada’s various communities—and francophone studies. The press also has a number of dynamic academic series that allows it to publish long-form scholarship in disciplines such as literature, history, philosophy, health, education, international development and globalization, and communication.
Among the press’s notable projects is the prestigious Mercury series, a copublication with the Canadian Museum of History and one of the most renowned publications in the fields of archaeology and ethnology. As part of its academic publishing program, the press also publishes the 101 Collection, short books of 101-plus pages that dive into a variety of themes and subjects.
Books from the press that speak to the UP week theme of #StepUP are Dangling in the Glimmer of Hope: Academic Action on Truth and Reconciliation by Garry Gottfriedson and Victoria Handford, a creative and scholarly work that invites readers to reflect on reconciliation, mutual respect, and understanding through Indigenous perspectives; Northern Ontario in Historical Statistics, 1871–2021: Expansion, Growth, and Decline in a Hinterland-Colonial Region by David Leadbeater; and Creating Visual Schedules: The Schedule Evaluation Tool (SET) for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disabilities by Johanne Mainville, Sonia Di Lillo, Nathalie Poirier, and Nathalie Plante.
Upcoming books of note from the press are Doing Democracy in “Third Places”: Youth Citizenship Education edited by Stéphanie Gaudet and Caroline Caron, a book of case studies that “reveals the diversity of formative experiences offered to young Quebecers... and aimed at a wide audience, including youth organization staff, graduate students, the youth policy sector, and anyone interested in the issues surrounding youth citizenship in the 21st century”; Canada’s Photographer: On the World Stage | Photographe du Canada: Sur la scène mondiale by Jean-Marc Carisse, in which the award-winning photographer takes readers “behind the scenes to meet some of the greatest celebrities of our time”; and Migration and Racialization in Times of “Crisis”: The Making of Crises and Their Effects edited by Leila Benhadjoudja, Christina Clark-Kazak, and Stéphanie Garneau, which offers “a critical reflection on the colonial, racist and sexist roots of crisis-making, and on the effects of ‘crisis management’ on Indigenous, Black, racialized, and migrant populations.”
In other news, the press opened a new location in 2024 in downtown Ottawa, which showcases its publishing activities and offerings. The accessible, LEED-certified space features a sidewalk-level storefront that is open to the public and available for events of all kinds.
