PM’s Residence Costing Taxpayers Millions in Upkeep
Despite being unoccupied for more than four years and in urgent need of renovations for decades, the Prime Minister’s official residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa has cost taxpayers more than $2.3 million in basic maintenance since 2015. Problems at the residence, which Margaret Trudeau once sarcastically called the “crown jewel of the federal penitentiary system,” include asbestos, radon gas, mould, knob-and-tube wiring and the lack of a fire-suppression system. A 2017 report estimated the cost of renovating the building at between $34 million and $567 million.