Carney announces contest to revamp uninhabitable Canadian PM residence

Rideau Hall Foundation CEO Rob Prichard, left, leads an announcement with prime minister Mark Carney outside the official residence of the Canadian PM at 24 Sussex Drive, in Ottawa, on 26 June 2026. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Rideau Hall Foundation CEO Rob Prichard, left, leads an announcement with prime minister Mark Carney outside the official residence of the Canadian PM at 24 Sussex Drive, in Ottawa, on 26 June 2026. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock Carney announces contest to revamp uninhabitable Canadian PM residence Various issues – including a rodent infestation and mold – have left the historic, sprawling Ottawa estate empty 10 Downing Street has two things: mice and a chief mouser . For more than a decade, an officially recognized feline has kept the residence’s rodent infestation to a minimum. Over a similar period, the official residence of Canada’s prime minister has seen an unchecked explosion of rodents. Nests and vast quantities of feces were found throughout 24 Sussex, the 35-room mansion overlooking Ottawa. They took over the attic, basement and crawl spaces. Decomposing carcasses filled the walls of the decrepit building . Canadian PM’s residence shut down over dead mice in walls, documents say Read more Now, prime minister Mark Carney has announced a competition for the country’s leading architecture firms to revive the storied building “to a standard worthy of the country that it serves”. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada will design the framework and bring together an independent jury of experts in architecture, heritage conservation and design, which will recommend the winning design to cabinet. “24 Sussex Drive will be built by Canadians for Canadians,” Carney said on Friday, telling reporters that the winning design would be announced on 1 July 2027: Canada Day. “At a time when much of the world is buffeted by crisis, Canada’s history, our institutions and our traditions matter more than ever,” he said, standing outside the uninhabitable building. The prime minister said that while foundations of identity largely take the form of language, culture and laws, buildings can stand as testaments “made of timber and stone … in which we recognize ourselves”. Originally named Gorffwysfa (Welsh for “the place of peace”), the sprawling estate has housed 11 prime ministers since the government took it over in 1951. But its shortcomings have long plagued heads of government. Jean Chrétien, prime minister from 1993 to 2003, brought reporters to witness the need for buckets to catch rainwater from a leaky roof. Only after a storm blew off sections of the roof did he finally get the needed repairs. “It’s a symbol of the public office of the head of our federal government and of the democratic traditions that office represents. And yet it has not been cared for with the respect that it deserves,” he said. “Now it’s in critical condition.” Years of negligence have left the official re