The presence of the federal government has shaped every facet of the city of Ottawa, and its architecture has been dramatically affected for both good and ill. Ottawa exists as a major city almost solely because it was selected to be the capital of the new nation of Canada, and the federal government remains the dominant employer in the city. Many of Ottawa's most acclaimed structures are the result of federal government projects, but the affinity for cheapness and blandness of recent government buildings has also played a central role in Ottawa's perceived architectural dullness.