With 24 Sussex Drive sitting desolate and in want of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in renovations, the federal government says Prime Minister Mark Carney will quickly take up official residence at Rideau Cottage.
The crumbling Ottawa house on Sussex Drive had lengthy been the official residence for Canada’s prime ministers, however has sat empty since 2015 as staff handled mould, asbestos, lead and rodents. With successive leaders unwilling to be seen spending cash on the Nineteenth-century constructing, it is fallen into numerous states of destroy and became a political quagmire.
In an electronic mail to CBC, the Privy Council Workplace (PCO) stated Carney, who already lived within the tony Ottawa neighbourhood of Rockcliffe not removed from 24 Sussex, had been quickly staying at an official visitor residence for safety causes.
He was solely sworn in as prime minister a number of days earlier than triggering a federal election, which stored Carney and his spouse Diana Fox Carney on the street for weeks.
“In keeping with their safety suggestions, he’ll quickly be residing in Rideau Cottage,” stated PCO spokesperson Pierre-Alain Bujold.
Rideau Cottage sits on the grounds of Rideau Corridor, house to the Governor Basic, and was final occupied by former prime minister Justin Trudeau and his household.
In one among his closing acts in workplace, Trudeau tried to settle the issue of 24 Sussex Drive and requested his public providers and procurement minister in a letter to give you choices for a brand new official residence for the prime minister by January 2026, and create an advisory committee that may weigh in on the situation, price, performance and safety necessities of the brand new house.

In accordance with Trudeau’s letter, there are three essential choices for changing 24 Sussex: A brand new or closely renovated advanced on the present property, a transfer to a second property within the Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood of Ottawa that has a greater safety profile, or an improve of Rideau Cottage, which has been the prime minister’s unofficial official residence since 2015.
Official estimates say the lowest-cost choice can be within the tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} and certain north of $100 million.
Source link