Click to reveal author's notes (with any spoilers!)
As the Centre finds its feet, we're trying something new: the version attached is a more softly Canadian puzzle, with a more clearly Ottawa-clued puzzle linked behind it! The idea is to have the front-page puzzles be accessible to all, while still offering a hyper-local puzzle for those who want to click through. This frees us up to reference an amusingly-named local hedge-trimming company (I've never used their services, so cannot vouch at all for them, but I've seen their signs scattered across towns) in 18-Across - or two events happening this weekend (a hot air balloon at 11-Down, or a car show at 14-Across), for anybody looking for plans!
Otherwise, my fun fact of this puzzle is about the mushroom family - the fact that portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and button mushrooms are the same species across different stages of maturity blows my mind!
The Centre is *for*, is in favour of, Canadian crosswords. It is a creative space where the default assumption is Canadian, from the references to the spelling.