The University of Ottawa (uOttawa or U of O) (French: Université d'Ottawa) is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on 42.5 hectares (105 acres) in the residential neighbourhood of Sandy Hill, adjacent to Ottawa's Rideau Canal.[6] The university offers a wide variety of academic programs, administered by ten faculties.[7] It is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.[8] The University of Ottawa is the largest English-French bilingual university in the world.[9] The University of Ottawa was first established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the first bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa, Joseph-Bruno Guigues.[10] Placed under the direction of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, it was renamed the College of Ottawa in 1861 and received university status five years later through a royal charter.[11] On 5 February 1889, the university was granted a pontifical charter by Pope Leo XIII, elevating the institution to a pontifical university.[12] The University was reorganized on July 1, 1965, as a corporation, independent from any outside body or religious organization. As a result, the civil and pontifical charters were kept by the newly created Saint Paul University, federated with the university. The remaining civil faculties were retained by the reorganized university.[11]