Young architects and designers will be able to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The decision to save 24 Sussex and engage the country in its restoration was courageous and timely.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on July 6, 2026.
OTTAWA—Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered Canadians a wonderful gift on the eve of Canada Day.
After years of indecision and neglect, the historical home of the prime minister will finally be properly renovated.
His background in building led him to make a number of good decisions in advance of the announcement.
First, he decided to engage the country by seeking restoration proposals from heritage architects. That decision will spawn an increase in heritage architecture, something that is badly needed in a country where approximately 1.3 million homes are empty and unused because they are in a serious state of disrepair. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, almost eight per cent of Canadians currently live in houses with major structural issues, including lack of electricity.
In the past number of years, when the housing crisis reached a zenith, little attention was paid to the fact that we have more than a million existing homes across the country that could be restored and made available for social housing.
The national “Design and Build” competition is open to Canadian architectural firms and will seek innovative solutions on energy efficiency and use. The proposal also involves a potential crowdfunding and fundraising element, to be managed by the Rideau Hall Foundation.
The jury for the proposals is chaired by Moshe Safdie, acclaimed architect behind the glorious construction of Canada’s National Gallery. Most significant, Carney applied a one-year timeline to the process that will be overseen by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
The building, which dates back to 1866, has been vacant for more than a decade. Prime minister Stephen Harper was the last head of government to live in the residence, and when he moved out in 2015, it was vacated for restoration. But no decision was made on the restoration until last week.
Some proposals included simply abandoning the building in favour of a new build with banquet facilities at the edge of Rockcliffe Park. That proposal sounded eerily familiar to the current decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to install a baroque banquet hall on the White House property. The Trump monstrosity is supposed to house 999 people and is to be built at a cost up to $600-million. Trump has publicly promised that no taxpayers’ money will be used in the construction, but in a recent media leak, it appears that approximately half of the cost will be paid by the public purse, allegedly to enhance security.
In the lead up to last week’s decision, the government received a report from our own security force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In that report, it claimed that simply upgrading security at the current address would cost upwards of $32-million, making the restoration too expensive to consider. That figure, in a report subcontracted by the RCMP, was subsequently discredited.
Back in 2025, Harper joined former prime minister Jean Chrétien in an offer to raise money to replace the ailing edifice. Chrétien approached the Prime Minister’s Office with the proposal, but was quickly rebuffed. The PMO believed a fundraising campaign would be too politically controversial and declined the offer.
But times have changed and so has the prime minister. Carney is not afraid to take the risk of fundraising, and the idea of crowdfunding through social media venues is another way to engage Canadians in support of the process.
There will, no doubt, be some naysayers, led last week by the leader of the opposition, who claimed that the prime minister should not move on his own housing while millions of Canadians are facing housing and affordability crises themselves.
But former New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair pointed out that Poilievre cannot say much because he lives in Stornoway, another official residence paid by the taxpayers. In Poilievre’s case, he stayed at Stornoway after he lost his seat, even though he had no association with Parliament.
So, he will not be leading the charge against the restoration.
By launching a national competition, Carney has managed to focus attention away from himself and in favour of a whole new generation of Moshe Safdies.
For the next year, the country will be directly engaged in the discussion about possible design plans. They will also be able to contribute to the restoration of the prime minister’s residence.
Young architects and designers will be able to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The decision to save 24 Sussex and engage the country in its restoration was courageous and timely.
After all, 24 Sussex is Canada’s home.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.