Ottawa, ON, March 17, 2025 -- Heritage Ottawa was pleased to see outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's call for a plan to address the need for an official prime minister’s residence and supports the request that an advisory group be created to make recommendations on location, functionality, cost and security needs with a proposal for new options drafted by January 2026.
Heritage Ottawa has long advocated for the rehabilitation of 24 Sussex Drive as a nationally significant place that belongs to all Canadians. Investing in the site’s future allows it to be adapted to meet the needs of the 21st century while respecting its rich history. It is not about keeping the site stuck in the past; it is an opportunity to add new layers of meaning that reflect Indigenous perspectives, new environmental standards, and using Canadian engineering excellence to solve security-related issues.
In a letter dated December 3, 2019, Heritage Ottawa called upon Prime Minister Trudeau to “appoint a committee headed by a non-partisan Chair to make recommendations concerning 24 Sussex and concerning Prime Ministerial accommodation.”
In February 2024, Heritage Ottawa, in partnership with the School of Canadian and Indigenous Studies and the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University, and Historic Ottawa Development Inc., hosted an important panel discussion 24 Sussex: From Residence to Reticence that examined the constraints and opportunities of rehabilitating 24 Sussex Drive.
Heritage Ottawa again wrote to the Prime Minister in a letter dated April 9, 2024 urging the government to accept the offer made by former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper to raise funds privately to restore 24 Sussex Drive.
Heritage Ottawa is less supportive of the former Prime Minister’s letter recommending that responsibility for the residence be transferred from the National Capital Commission (NCC) to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PWPC). The NCC has done its best to stabilize the structure after years of government waffling. The NCC is responsible for all federal official residences and the prime minister’s official residence should be no exception.
24 Sussex is not just any home. It is a nationally significant place that belongs to all Canadians. It is part of a suite of buildings designed in the Gothic Revival Style erected at the time of Confederation. 24 Sussex (built 1867-68 by Joseph Merrill Currier, lumber baron and Member of Parliament), along with Earnscliffe (home to Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald), and the Parliament Buildings themselves are all part of an elegant landscape of structures, located on one of the most dramatic – and iconic – landscapes in Canada that speaks to the creation of our nation. It has been the setting for many important political events. For these reasons, 24 Sussex is a Classified Federal Heritage Building.
Media Contact: info@heritageottawa.org