A construction worker walks past the front entrance to 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa in May, 2023. The stone mansion needs around $36.6-million in renovations, according to a NCC report in 2021.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will soon move forward with a plan to deal with 24 Sussex Dr., the long-standing residence of Canadian prime ministers that has essentially been shuttered for more than a decade because of its physical decline.
The public-works department and the National Capital Commission, which manages official residences in the Ottawa region, are going through a process to determine how to proceed, Mr. Carney said Thursday.
“We’ll make an announcement soon,” Mr. Carney told journalists as he arrived for the weekly cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill.
The Prime Minister did not elaborate, but his commitment to some plan raises the prospect of action to deal with a house whose many issues, including problems with heating and leaks, have bedevilled a number of his predecessors.
Opinion: Memo to the PM: Fix 24 Sussex now
The stone mansion, built in the Gothic Revival style in 1868, has more than 30 rooms and is nestled on 2.2 hectares of secluded property overlooking the Ottawa River, just a few kilometres northeast of Parliament Hill. The house needed $36.6-million in renovations, according to a NCC report in 2021, which recommended making it accessible and dealing with hazardous materials.
Asked, on Parliament Hill, whether the government’s process would last into the summer or fall, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound said, “I would say more on the short side than the long side.”
The residence was originally owned by successful businessmen and members of Parliament.
With the arrival of Louis St. Laurent in 1951, the mansion, acquired by the government, became an official home for Canada’s prime ministers.
Ten of them lived there until the declining state of the home prevented Justin Trudeau from moving in upon becoming prime minister in 2015.
Opinion: The state of 24 Sussex is an insult to Canada
Mr. Trudeau, who spent much of his childhood at the residence as one of the sons of Pierre Trudeau, moved with his family into Rideau Cottage on the grounds of Rideau Hall.
To protect 24 Sussex Dr. as a heritage asset, the NCC cleared out the house between May and November of 2023, spending $4.3-million on a decommissioning and abatement effort that included dealing with asbestos, and removing, cataloguing and storing heritage items.
The NCC has said the effort was necessary regardless of any decision about the future of the property, which now sits empty across the street from the grounds of Rideau Hall, near downtown Ottawa.
Mark Carney lives in Rideau Cottage, but the home is seen as a temporary living option for Canada’s prime ministers.
Options for dealing with the issue of housing Canada’s prime minister include renovating 24 Sussex Dr. to deal with its decline and security issues, renovating Rideau Cottage to make it a permanent residence, or building an entirely new residence at another location.
NCC spokesperson Cassandra Demers declined to comment about the Prime Minister’s remarks. “We have nothing to add at this time,” she said in a statement.