What is Rideau Hall?

Rideau Hall is the official residence and workplace of the King of Canada and the Governor General, located on a 35-hectare estate at 1 Sussex Drive in Ottawa. It has been the Governor General's residence continuously since 1867, and is one of two official royal residences in Canada, the other being the Citadelle of Quebec. The 175-room main building is open to the public for free tours year-round, and the grounds host approximately 200,000 visitors a year.

The estate began as a Regency-style villa built in 1838 for stonemason Thomas MacKay, who supplied stone for Ottawa's Rideau Canal. The federal government leased it as the Governor General's residence in 1865 and purchased it outright in 1868. Successive expansions in 1872, 1873, 1885, 1913, and 1944 turned the villa into the present residence, with the formal entrance gate added in 1873 and the magnificent Tent Room ballroom completed in 1876.

The Hall is the site of major state ceremonies. New Prime Ministers and Cabinet ministers are sworn in by the Governor General in the Ballroom. Foreign ambassadors present their credentials in the Tent Room. Recipients of the Order of Canada, the Order of Military Merit, and the Bravery Decorations are invested at Rideau Hall in formal ceremonies. Royal visits to Canada by the monarch and members of the Royal Family typically include time at Rideau Hall.

The Rideau Hall grounds include heritage gardens, a public skating pond used each winter, the Greenhouse, the Stables, and the Government House Farm. The estate was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1977. The current Governor General, Mary May Simon (sworn in July 26, 2021), is the first Indigenous person to hold the office and the 30th Governor General since Confederation.