GOOD NEWS! 24 SUSSEX TO BE RESTORED

HERITAGE OTTAWA

At a press conference on Friday, June 26, 2026, Prime Minister Carney announced a long-awaited plan to invest in the future of 24 Sussex Drive. 

After years of media interviews and letters written to current and past prime ministers urging the conservation of the building as the prime minister's official residence, Heritage Ottawa celebrates PM Carney's decision to invest in the future of this important heritage property. 

HERITAGE OTTAWA MEDIA RELEASE, dated June 26, 2026. (Click to open PDF).

At a press conference today, Prime Minister announced a long-awaited plan to invest in the future of 24 Sussex Drive. The plan includes the launch of an independent national design-and-build competition that will “restore the property as a secure, accessible, sustainable, and functional official residence and working venue for Canada’s prime ministers, while preserving its defining character.” The plan also includes a national non-partisan fundraising campaign run by the Rideau Hall Foundation (created by former Governor General David Johnston) with the goal of raising all or most of the cost of the project. 

Heritage Ottawa congratulates Prime Minister Carney, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound and the National Capital Commission for making this important decision and supports the initiatives that will result in the conservation of a nationally significant landmark that belongs to all Canadians.

"Heritage Ottawa has been advocating long and hard for the rehabilitation of 24 Sussex and it is with both relief and enthusiasm that we welcome today’s announcement,” said president Katherine Spencer-Ross. “There is great scope for imaginative and creative rehabilitation of this historic site, owned by Canadians, that will secure the building and grounds for the use of future prime ministers for generations to come.” 

The design-and-build competition will be overseen by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) who will convene an independent jury of distinguished Canadian experts in architecture and heritage conservation chaired by Moshe Safdie, CC, one of Canada’s most renowned architects. The winning proposal will be announced on July 1, 2027.

"Canadians rightly expect their leaders to take decisions where the benefits may only be realized long after they are in office. Good stewardship demands it, Canadians rightly expect it, and the future of our institutions depends on us leaving them better than we found them,” stated Prime Minister Carney. “We will restore 24 Sussex Drive to a standard worthy of the country it serves.”

In October, 2025, Heritage Ottawa wrote to Prime Minister Carney urging a decision to rehabilitate 24 Sussex Drive so it may continue to serve as the residence of the Prime Minister of Canada. “We hear the voices of those who feel that rehabilitation of this house during a housing crisis sends the wrong message,” wrote Ms. Spencer-Ross. “But is it not also a wrong message that an otherwise sound structure is sent to landfill? The greenest buildings are those that are renovated for use.”

We also reminded Mr. Carney that we had written to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in April 2024 urging the government to accept the offer of former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper to raise funds for 24 Sussex Drive, so we fully support the announced fundraising initiative.

Prior to that, in 2019, Heritage Ottawa wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau recommending that a non-partisan committee be appointed to make recommendations concerning 24 Sussex and prime ministerial accommodation, so we are particularly pleased to see the creation of a panel of Canadian experts in architecture and heritage conservation to oversee the design competition.

Built in 1868 for industrialist and MP Joseph Merrill Currier, the house is part of a suite of buildings designed in the Gothic Revival style erected at the time of Confederation. Along with Earnscliffe, the French Embassy, and the Parliament Buildings themselves, it forms an elegant landscape of structures located at the confluence of Rideau Falls and the Ottawa River where Indigenous people have encamped from time immemorial before journeying into the interior. It is an iconic Canadian landscape that speaks to the founding moments of our nation. Purchased by the federal government in 1950, the house was refurbished as the Prime Minister’s official residence. It is where important historic events and decisions have taken place that have shaped our national story.

This is long-awaited good news and Heritage Ottawa’s consistent messaging and advocacy through dozens of media interviews and letters to current and past prime ministers played an important role in helping to legitimize the decision to invest in this important heritage property. We will be pleased to contribute to the success of the project on an ongoing basis. 

For more information 24 Sussex Drive, CLICK HERE.