Santa Claus arrives in Ottawa as part of the Help Santa Toy Parade

Santa Claus arrived in downtown Ottawa on a cold, sunny Saturday morning, kicking off the holiday season in the capital.

"It was the greatest thing ever," said Eloise Farley while watching the parade.

Thousands of people lined downtown streets for the 54^th Help Santa Toy Parade, as the 60 floats travelled from Ottawa City Hall to Lansdowne along Laurier Avenue and Bank Street.

"I've done this pretty much my whole life and I'm enjoying just seeing everyone drive-by," one child said while watching the parade.

The Help Santa Toy Parade helps kick off the holiday season in the national capital region, and it's the first Santa Claus parade in the lead up to Christmas.

"I'm driving Santa," said Jackson Gottleib, who had an important job while volunteering in his first Santa Claus parade. "We didn't know the float we were driving until this morning."

Firefighters and volunteers collected financial donations and new toys during the Help Santa Toy Parade for the CTV and MOVE 100's Toy Mountain campaign in support of Ottawa's Toy Mountain.

"Twenty-seven thousand families need help," Cameron Taylor, chair of the Help Santa Toy Parade, said. "Not everyone is able to make the holiday season happen. This is a little part the Ottawa firefighters can do to make sure folks around the city of Ottawa have the holiday season they are hoping for."

Firefighters carried boots to collect financial donations, and people could tap their debit or credit card to donate $10.

"We're taking donations online at toyparade.ca; we are taking new, unwrapped gifts at all of the fire stations in the city of Ottawa," Taylor said. 

Taylor says it has been a slow start to the campaign for the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association.

"It is tough times. We're down; we're actually about half the amount of toys usually that we have in fire stations right now. It's understandable," Taylor says.

"It's going to be a year where more people need more help, so the people who are able to help we really hope that you can find it in you to contribute a bit."

Toy Mountain provides toys to local families that might otherwise not be able to have gifts on Christmas morning.

The Barrhaven Santa Claus Parade is set for Sunday evening. The Kanata Santa Claus Parade, the Riverside South Santa Claus Parade and Santa's Parade of Lights in Orleans are scheduled for next weekend.