In the world of communications strategy, it is no secret that if you want news to be overlooked, you release it on a Friday. Ideally, the Friday before a long weekend.
That helps explain why, on Friday, June 26, the federal government announced a national design-and-build competition to “rehabilitate and modernize” 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of the Prime Minister, even though no Prime Minister has actually lived there since 2015.
Rear view of 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Canada. Source: Wikipedia Alasdair McLellan July 2010
Fixing the Prime Minister’s residence has been a hot potato for decades. The optics of spending millions of dollars to repair “the Prime Minister’s house” are politically risky at the best of times. They are exponentially harder when so many Canadians are struggling to afford homes of their own, or to pay the bills that come with them: rent, mortgage, heating, cooling, maintenance. What’s going on in the White House, doesn’t help.
So yes, I understand why governments have avoided this. I understand why the announcement was handled quietly. There are plenty of reasons for a politician to ignore the decay at 24 Sussex and move on.
But I hope Canadians don’t ignore it. Because we’ve been looking at this project through the wrong lens. This is not simply about restoring one old house. It is an opportunity to demonstrate what Canada is capable of.
24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, as originally built in 1868, prior to extensive renovations in 1950. Source: Wikipedia
The structure of the project is creative. Prime Minister Carney has made it clear that he will never live at 24 Sussex. The rehabilitation is for future Prime Ministers. To avoid the outcry of public tax dollars being used, the work will be supported through a fundraising campaign. Donations are capped. Corporations cannot contribute. And to create separation between government and potential influencers or lobbyists, the competition will be led by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Will there be detractors? Of course. Some will say the building should be torn down. Others will say the government should pay directly. Some will argue this is a distraction from more urgent priorities. They may even have a point. But I see something larger.
Canada needs this project. We need a real residence for the Prime Minister at 24 Sussex, not simply a cottage down the road. We need a national design competition that stirs the imagination of design and build teams across the country. We need a visible example of how existing buildings can be restored rather than demolished. Most of all, we need a national demonstration of what better building performance looks like when it meets Canadian skill, experience, and ambition.
Remember, this is not really the Prime Minister’s house. It is our house. It is where Canada should welcome leaders, host national moments, and quietly signal something about who we are.
Right now, it signals deferred maintenance, mould, asbestos, drafts, poor comfort, high operating costs, and decades of indecision.
Surely, we can do better than that. If this is our house, shouldn’t it represent our best thinking? Shouldn’t it demonstrate exceptional indoor air quality, outstanding comfort, resilience during power outages, remarkably low operating costs, and the highest standard of energy performance we know how to achieve?
Imagine an extended power outage in the middle of an Ottawa winter. I do not want to wonder whether the Prime Minister and their family are safe. I want to know they are. That is what high-performance buildings do. They do not simply save energy. They buy time. They protect people.
There is another reason this project matters. 24 Sussex should become one of the most watched building projects in Canada. Every design decision, every construction milestone, every challenge, and every success should become part of the national conversation.
24 Sussex Drive as it stands today. Source: National Capital Commission
That is exactly why this opportunity matters. For years, we have asked Canadians to imagine that deep, high-performance retrofits are possible. Here is an opportunity to show them. There are experienced Canadian architects, engineers, builders, tradespeople, manufacturers, and energy modelers who already know how to deliver this. They have restored existing buildings. They have delivered world-class Passive House projects. They have proven that extraordinary building performance is not experimental. It is practical, proven, and increasingly cost-effective.
So yes, perhaps this announcement was intended to slip quietly into the news cycle but I hope it does not. I hope Canadians follow every stage of this project. I hope architects, engineers, builders, students, policymakers, and homeowners pay attention.
Because if 24 Sussex becomes one of the highest-performing heritage retrofits in the world, it will not simply give future Prime Ministers a better place to live. It will give Canadians a better understanding of what is possible.
Across Canada, some of our largest housing providers have already concluded that better building performance is one of the smartest affordability strategies available. Imagine the message it would send if Canada’s most famous retrofit reached the same conclusion.
