Police attend an incident at East Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Saturday, April 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangJustin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ottawa police say a man who triggered an hours-long lockdown on Parliament Hill on Saturday had entered the security screening area of East Block and made threats to the safety of those inside the building.
The 31-year-old Ottawa man surrendered peacefully after hours of negotiations and was arrested at the scene, police said Sunday. He was charged with uttering threats to cause property damage, breaching probation and public mischief.
The man was not found to be carrying any weapons, explosives or hazardous materials, and nobody was hurt.
Police said the incident on Saturday began at 2:40 p.m. when he entered the security screening area of East Block – a historic parliamentary building where senators and their staff have their offices – and began making threats.
Visitors to Parliament Hill witnessed a huge police operation including sharpshooters, explosives experts and sniffer dogs. Two bomb disposal unit robots were positioned in front of Parliament’s Centre Block.
The lockdown on Parliament Hill prompted the evacuation of the building and road closures in the area. An alert sent from Parliamentary Protective Service at 2:45 p.m., including to senators and staff, asked people inside to “seek shelter in the nearest room. Close and lock all doors and hide.” The alert suggested that people stay away from the area until further notice and not to travel to buildings under lockdown.
Police created a security cordon to block off the area, and police cars stopped traffic from accessing Wellington Street, home to Ottawa’s Parliament buildings.
East Block, where the incident took place, is a building on the parliamentary estate that housed the office of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, as well as governors-general in the 19th century.
The building has been modernized for use by senators, but the original prime minister’s and governor-general’s offices, which include gas-lit chandeliers, portraits of Queen Victoria and a spittoon for spitting out tobacco, have been preserved. They can be viewed by the public on parliamentary tours during the summer months.
On Saturday, few people would have been in East Block, as Parliament remains in recess during the federal election.
People entering parliamentary buildings must pass through entrance screening areas with barriers staffed by security personnel. Only staff and people with authorized access can enter East Block.
The Ottawa police said in a statement that the man who provoked the standoff was immediately isolated in the security screening area and that negotiators were called in to try to defuse the situation.
Explosives and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear units and police sniffer dogs were brought in during the standoff. The man was making threats, and several packages were checked in the area by police and cleared as safe.
The Ottawa police, who were working with the Parliamentary Protective Service, would not comment on whether he was making threats involving explosives or whether he had a motive, but said the investigation is continuing. Police did not name the man, who they said is from Ottawa.
With a report from the Canadian Press