Carney to announce fundraising campaign for 24 Sussex restoration: source

A senior regime seed said Carney's project is go down to include launch a design competition to allow Canadian companies to propose how they would make the home a suitable official residence again for future prime ministers.

The chosen design is expected to be announced by July 1, 2027, the source said. The winner, the source said, would both design and carry out the construction of the project. 

The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said an independent advisory panel is also expected to be set up to weigh in on the proposals.

So taxpayers don't have to foot the whole bill, the Rideau Hall Foundation would run a fundraising campaign to try and cover the costs, the source said. 

Carney is scheduled to make the announcement at 9:30 a.m.

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The government has faced calls for years to address 24 Sussex. The heritage building has been sitting vacant for almost a decade after Carney's predecessors allowed it to deteriorate and become uninhabitable. 

Successive prime ministers haven't wanted to take the political risk to spend the tens of millions of dollars needed to renovate the 32-room home. It was gutted in recent years to strip out mould, asbestos and rodents.

Former governor general David Johnston set up the Rideau Hall Foundation when he retired in 2017.

The organization was established to "amplify the impact of the office of the Governor General as a central institution of Canadian democracy, and to better serve Canadians through a range of initiatives linked to learning, leadership, giving and innovation," according to its website.

Future of 24 Sussex 'one question I'm not going to answer' today, Carney laughs

In April, Carney revealed he wants to choose an option that allows future prime ministers to call 24 Sussex home. 

"I think it's a responsibility to hand off things better than you found them. And certainly the current state of 24 Sussex couldn't be any worse. It's an embarrassment."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney hasn't sought his input on what to do with 24 Sussex. But he told reporters that the residence shouldn't be a priority.

"I really don't think about it at all," said Poilievre. "When I go around this country and I meet so many people who can't afford a place to live, when I see the homelessness on our streets, then 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."

Future of 24 Sussex should be 'last thing on our minds,' says Poilievre

Tobi Nussbaum, the CEO of the National Capital Commission (NCC) which manages 24 Sussex Drive, said on Tuesday the government has been seized with deciding what to do about the property for some time. 

The commission's plan to make the capital more beautiful over the next two decades was approved by the board this week. The plan calls preserving and enhancing 24 Sussex a "key objective." 

The NCC recommends to "rehabilitate and renew the property, a classified federal heritage building, in a way that reflects its role as the official residence of the prime minister of Canada."

Officials in 2025 estimated the price tag to restore 24 Sussex could range from tens of millions of dollars to more than $100 million.

The government has long faced calls to take future decisions about the official residence out of political hands to prevent history from repeating itself.

In one of his final acts as prime minister, Justin Trudeau called for the creation of an advisory panel of former prime ministers to make recommendations about the cost, security requirements and location of the residence. 

Senior reporter

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