PM Carney says 24 Sussex to be restored with fundraising campaign, design competition

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled plans Friday to restore the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa through a national design competition and fundraising campaign.

The prime minister said the winning design proposal will be announced by Canada Day of next year.

Carney said the heritage building is a “symbol of the nation” but has fallen into a “critical state” after decades of neglect, and he does not want to see it crumble.

“It has not been cared for with the respect it deserves,” Carney said at a news conference outside the building on Friday.

“After decades of deferred maintenance and neglect, this house sits empty. It has been uninhabitable for more than a decade.”

The 35-room mansion was built in 1867 and 1868 as a private residence. It was expropriated in 1949 to become the official residence of the prime minister, and Louis St-Laurent was the first to live there, starting in 1951.

In 2015, seven years after the auditor general said it would cost upwards of $10 million to renovate the building, former prime minister Justin Trudeau opted against moving his young family into the house.

The Trudeaus instead lived across the street at Rideau Cottage, on the grounds of Rideau Hall. That is now where Carney lives as well.

Asbestos, faulty wiring, failing plumbing, cracked windows and a leaky roof were just some of the problems uncovered in 24 Sussex. The auditor said it had not undergone any significant renovations in more than 50 years.

Its restoration has long been a political football. Before Trudeau opted not to live there, previous prime ministers refused to authorize any major upkeep fearing blowback from the public.

In 2018, Trudeau said as much, telling CBC’s The House “that no prime minister wants to spend a penny of taxpayer dollars on upkeeping that house.”

The National Capital Commission spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain 24 Sussex since 2015. For seven years, after the Trudeau family opted not to live there, the building was still used by some staff and to host official functions on the grounds.

In 2022, the National Capital Commission ended even that, moving out remaining staff and declaring the building unfit due to health and safety concerns. That included an infestation of rats in the walls. The NCC, which is in charge of upkeep of official residences, spent $4.3 million since then decommissioning the house, including removing asbestos, storing heritage items, and trying to end the rat problem.

The NCC website says some heritage parts of the building were not touched, pending a decision on the future of the building.

“They were protected in situ. The stored heritage fabric elements could possibly be reinstated in the future,” the website said.

Rodent bait stations could be seen throughout 24 Sussex during a media tour of the first floor following Carney’s announcement. There were several sections cut out of walls with labels fixed nearby warning of the presence of asbestos.

Much of the first floor is stripped right down to the studs, leaving wood, brick and stone exposed.

Wallpaper and crown moulding is still in place in a few rooms like the prime minister’s study, living room and dining room. Instead of being used as work and living spaces, they currently serve as storage for items like doors.

Carney said 24 Sussex is a “symbol of the office” and must serve as a home and workspace for prime ministers. Carney said while he will never live in the building, it should be repaired for prime ministers to come.

The fundraising campaign is meant to cover all or most of the cost of the project. It will be managed by the Rideau Hall Foundation.

Carney declined to offer an estimate of how much the renovations will cost and said the budget is part of the competitive process.

The list of donors will be public and the donations will be capped, he said.

Individual donors will be barred from funding the bulk of the project. Carney said no individual donor can cover more than 10 per cent of the final project cost but the Rideau Hall Foundation will make the final call on fundraising rules.

The prime minister said the federal government will cover security costs in the meantime.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said Friday there’s an opening for conflicts of interest with the fundraising plan.

“When you look at the last 11 years, every time the Liberals come up with a scheme or a program or a proposal, they find ways to make their friends rich at the expense of Canadians. We are always concerned when Liberals do things because they have shown themselves to put themselves in conflicts of interest,” Scheer said.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada will advise the government on the design competition, which will be adjudicated by an independent panel of design experts chaired by celebrated architect Moshe Safdie.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the jury will consist of Carol Bélanger, Nicolas Demers-Stoddart, Omar Gandhi, Mamie Griffith, Patricia Kell and Brigitte Shim.

Carney thanked former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Jean Chrétien for advocating for the restoration of 24 Sussex.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said restoring 24 Sussex should not be a priority for the government, given the cost of living crisis facing many Canadians.

“When I see the homelessness in our streets and I see the young people who are desperate to start families but can’t get a house to do it, I just think the last thing on our minds should be 24 Sussex Drive,” Poilievre told a press conference on Parliament Hill on Thursday.

Poilievre lives in Stornoway, an eight-bedroom official residence reserved for the use of the leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2026.

— With files from Catherine Morrison

David Baxter and Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press