Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper — Liberal and Conservative former prime ministers whose tenures together span more than two decades — are set to lead the public fundraising campaign for the restoration of 24 Sussex Drive, the Rideau Hall Foundation confirmed on July 4, 2026.

The Foundation, which exists to amplify the work of the Office of the Governor General, is targeting $50 million in private donations for the project under the banner "Restoring 24 Sussex: A National Project for Future Generations." A formal campaign launch involving both former prime ministers is planned for early fall, according to Jill Clark, the Foundation's senior manager of communications and media relations.

The announcement follows Prime Minister Mark Carney's public commitment on June 26 to restore the residence, which has sat vacant since 2015 because of its deteriorating physical condition. Carney said the federal government will cover security-related costs; the balance of the renovation bill is to come from private donations. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada will run a design competition for the project, with the winning firm also taking on the reconstruction work.

As of Tuesday, the campaign had collected $300,000 in donations and pledges from 1,198 Canadians, with an average online gift of $209 — a starting figure that illustrates the gap between current momentum and the $50-million target. For context, the Foundation reported more than $100,000 raised as of the June 26 announcement, meaning the total roughly tripled in the days that followed, though it remains well short of what the project requires.

The Foundation describes the effort as transparent and non-partisan, and it has built structural rules around those claims. Corporate donations are barred. Anonymous donations are barred. Donors must attest to being Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The architecture of those restrictions tracks closely with federal political financing rules — an evident attempt to pre-empt the obvious criticism that a privately funded renovation of the prime minister's residence is a vehicle for influence.

The choice of Chrétien and Harper as co-chairs makes the non-partisan framing concrete. The two men governed from opposite ends of the political spectrum for a combined period covering most of the post-1993 era. Clark told the Globe and Mail the pair were critical to moving the project forward ahead of Carney's announcement. Harper is, by the Foundation's account, the last of nine prime ministers to have lived at the residence since it opened to Canada's leaders in 1951. He has previously stated he is pleased the building is being preserved as a prime ministerial residence. Representatives for both Chrétien and Harper did not respond to requests for comment on the Foundation's statement.

The renovation has a political headwind from the Official Opposition. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said 24 Sussex Drive should not be a priority given the homelessness and housing pressures facing younger Canadians — a line of attack that creates an awkward position for a party whose own former leader is now helping to solicit donations for the project. That tension is worth watching as the fall campaign launch approaches.

One piece of historical context matters here: Chrétien and Harper had reportedly agreed years ago to raise funds for the renovation, but the project never advanced under Justin Trudeau's government. The Carney government's decision to move ahead — pairing a public security-cost commitment with a private fundraising structure — effectively revived an arrangement that had been shelved for the better part of a decade. Whether the $50-million target is achievable through voluntary Canadian-only contributions, at an average gift of $209, is a question the fall campaign will begin to answer.