Lester B. Pearson Building | |
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General information | |
Type | Office building |
Architectural style | Modern |
Location | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Address | 125 Sussex Drive |
Town or city | Ottawa |
Country | Canada |
Current tenants | Global Affairs Canada |
Named for | Lester B. Pearson |
Construction started | 1970 |
Completed | 1973 |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | WZMH Architects |
The Lester B. Pearson Building is an office building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 125 Sussex Drive in the Lower Town neighbourhood and currently serves as the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada. It was officially opened on 1 August 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. [1] It is named after Lester B. Pearson, former Prime Minister of Canada and external affairs minister which has earned it the nickname "Fort Pearson".
The building was designed by the Toronto-based architectural firm of Webb Zerafa Menkes and is described as "late modern with an influence of Brutalism". [1] The building consists of four "towers" ranging from 4 to 10 storeys, of which three are interconnected from the first to the fifth floor. In 2013, the Department of Public Works and Government Services designated the office complex a Federal Heritage Building for its "historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values". [2]
In 2019, work began towards renovating the building, with major changes being made to both the interior and exterior. Walls will be torn down and individual offices removed in favour of a new activity-based working model. The project is estimated to cost $700 million and is scheduled to be completed in 2028. [3]
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada's international relations and is the lead minister responsible for Global Affairs Canada, though the minister of international trade leads on trade issues. In addition to Global Affairs Canada, the minister is also the lead in overseeing the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development and the International Development Research Centre.
Wakefield is one of many villages of the municipality of La Pêche, with the village centre on the western shore of the Gatineau River, at the confluence of the La Pêche River in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is thirty-five kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Ontario. The village, named after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, is now the southern edge of the municipality of La Pêche, and was founded in 1830 by Irish, Scottish, and English immigrants. Wakefield is approximately a twenty-five-minute drive north of the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge that divides Gatineau and Ottawa (Ontario), along the Autoroute 5, a modern four lane divided highway which has recently been extended to the village. Wakefield is unique as a primarily Anglophone town in a primarily Francophone province.
The Rideau Club is a private social club in Ottawa, Ontario. The club was founded in 1865 by Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier as a gentlemen's club, but since 1979 has been mixed-sex. For much of its history the club was populated primarily by parliamentarians. In 1876 the Rideau built its clubhouse at 84 Wellington Street, where it remained until the building burned down in 1979. Since the fire, the club has been located in the top floor of the Metropolitan Life Building at 99 Bank Street.
The Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council building, formerly known as the Langevin Block, is an office building facing Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. As the home of the Privy Council Office and Office of the Prime Minister, it is the working headquarters of the executive branch of the Canadian government.
The Major-General George R. Pearkes Building is the principal location of Canada's National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) and is located in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. NDHQ comprises a collection of offices spread across the Major-General George R Pearkes Building, however it is primarily based at Major-General George R. Pearkes Building at 101 Colonel By Drive in Ottawa.
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The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs is a professional school of international affairs at Carleton University that was founded in 1965. The school is based at Richcraft Hall on Carleton's campus in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Students, alumni and faculty of NPSIA are referred to as 'NPSIAns'.
The John G. Diefenbaker Building is a building in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario. The building served as Ottawa's city hall from August 2, 1958, to January 1, 2001, and afterward was commonly known as Old City Hall. Purchased in 2003 by the Government of Canada, it was known by its municipal address, 111 Sussex Drive, until September 2011 when it was renamed after Canada's 13th prime minister, John Diefenbaker. The building is located on Green Island where the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa River.
The R.H. Coats Building is a government office building located in the Tunney's Pasture government office complex in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is situated near the intersection of Holland Avenue and Scott Street, beside Tunney's Pasture Station.
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The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is representational office of the Ismaili Imamat in Canada and includes the headquarters of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada. It is located between the Embassy of Saudi Arabia and the Lester B. Pearson Building on Sussex Drive. It was opened in 2008.
The Embassy of Mexico in Canada, based out of Ottawa, is the primary diplomatic mission from Mexico to Canada.
The Main Building, or Main Statistics Canada Building, is a four-storey federal government office building located in the Tunney's Pasture area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is connected on the north side by the Jean Talon Building and on the south side by the R. H. Coats Building. Most of its 1,700 occupants work for Statistics Canada. Other tenants include Health Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada, and SNC-Lavalin.
Lester Bowles Pearson was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968.
Maclaren Cemetery is a small cemetery in the town of Wakefield, Quebec and the final resting place for Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Established near the 1870s, the cemetery is located in the clearing below the hills bordering the Gatineau River and is the resting place for Scottish settlers in the area.
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