New Edinburgh petition opposes NCC’s plan for Sussex Drive redevelopment

Following the curve of the Ottawa River and named by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Sussex Drive serves as one of Ottawa’s most historic and ceremonial roads. It has welcomed royals, presidents, ambassadors and celebrities to the capital for centuries, and now, it could become home to a new development that would redesign some of the street’s most recognizable features.

It serves as part of the city’s Confederation Boulevard, connecting institutions like Rideau Hall, Rideau Cottage and 24 Sussex, the residence of the prime minister, to Parliament Hill and the downtown core.

It offers views of the river and a historic route through Ottawa’s historic landmarks, and is a glimpse into how the city might have looked to visitors and leaders throughout the years, from former president Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II to Elvis Presley, Winston Churchill and Babe Ruth. 

Much of the land surrounding Sussex Drive is owned and operated by the National Capital Commission (NCC), and an updated plan for the area shows ideas for redeveloping a portion of greenspace into housing.

The proposed project, coined “Sussex Blocks”, would affect two blocks on Sussex Drive across the street from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the French Embassy. The property is currently zoned for institutional use, with the intention that those sites will be developed for diplomatic or other public buildings. Currently, the space is largely vacant, housing trees and parks.

But as part of the 2025 National Capital Core Area Plan, NCC staff are proposing that these sites be explored for a wider variety of building uses, including for housing, as well as commercial and retail use.

In an opinion piece published to the Ottawa Citizen, Alain Miguelez, the NCC’s vice-president of capital planning, said these buildings would be no greater than five storeys tall, consistent with the New Edinburgh Heritage Conservation District and “the dignity of our ceremonial route” and could house apartments, townhomes, offices and cafes and restaurants that “integrate into the surrounding neighbourhood and workplaces.”

It would be permissible under the City of Ottawa Official Plan, which allows housing in these blocks as part of the Parliament and Confederation Boulevard Special Districts. 

But the op-ed was published in response to another column, which was written by two community members and titled “Sussex Drive deserves better from the NCC”.

John McNee was one of the authors of the piece, and he is at the helm of Friends of Sussex Drive, a community advocacy group that opposes the NCC’s vision for Sussex Blocks.

McNee has lived in New Edinburgh with his wife, Susan, for about 17 years. He lives a few streets away from where the Sussex Blocks were developed, and has spent much of his professional life near Sussex, too — he’s a career diplomat who served as Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 2006 to 2011, no stranger to Canada’s history and the significance of Sussex Drive.

He says the community first learned of Sussex Blocks in March of 2025, when the New Edinburgh community association organized a public information meeting, where planners from the NCC outlined their ideas.

“That raised an awful lot of community questions and a lot of concern, and a group of us came together who thought this was really not a wise idea,” McNee told the Ottawa Lookout. “Our goal is to generate awareness, and not just in the neighbourhood, because this isn't a neighbourhood issue.

“It's an issue of the capital, and is important to all Canadians to sort of generate awareness of this proposal from the NCC, why we think it's not a sensible one, and galvanize opposition.”

That opposition has taken many forms, one of which is an online petition calling on the NCC to shelve the plan. As of this article’s date of publication, the petition had garnered 1,522 signatories, and McNee said it’s growing every day. 

But aside from the petition and continued advocacy, McNee said it has been difficult for the movement to gain momentum, and that the NCC “doesn’t seem interested in listening.”

“They organized this information session, but it was more of them telling us what the plan was and inviting comments at the margin,” he explained. “Then, just this month, the CEO of the NCC met with a group of members of the board of the new Edinburgh Community Association to clarify some aspects of it, and that was welcome, and that was good, but they haven't really committed to what I would call genuine public consultation before they move the project to the active phase. 

“What they've said is that when they do and they select a developer to erect these buildings, if that's what happens, it would be for the developer to engage in public communications or public consultations,” McNee continued. “In our view, that's way too late.”

The NCC has said it is looking to identify new revenue streams, which would be generated by the lease and development of the land. 

The corporation has also said it is aiming to contribute to solving the city’s ongoing housing crisis. As part of that, Miguelez wrote in the article, the NCC is “re-examining” how NCC lands can be used for housing and building an approach that would also boost the resident population and economy downtown.

As part of this mandate, the corporation has made 10 properties in Ottawa available to the Canada Public Land Bank, which it said could potentially yield close to new 7,600 housing units.

McNee said the community’s concerns aren’t around housing, but rather about the practicality of the project and the impact it would have on the road and surrounding neighbourhoods. 

“From a security point of view, it's got us scratching our heads, because these would overshadow 24 Sussex and the French Embassy and the South African High Commission,” said McNee.

“The traffic is already a terrible mess on Sussex Drive morning and evening, and this would make it a whole heck of a lot worse, not to mention increased emissions from a lot of new cars,” he continued. “And the parking is terrible, and that'll only get worse.”

The lands are also a floodplain, he said, and home to over 100 mature trees, all issues that the NCC said would be considered and addressed later in the development process.

But most importantly, he said, the proposal for Sussex Blocks is contrary to the NCC’s central mandate, which includes “ensuring that the distinctive streetscape elements of Confederation Boulevard are preserved and enhanced to maintain the unique character of this key feature of the capital.”

McNee added that Friends of Sussex Drive are supportive of addressing the housing crisis, but that in recent meetings with the NCC, planners were unable to confirm what kind of housing would be introduced on Sussex.

“They’ve said mixed-use, but our intuition…Is it’s more likely to be high-end given that you'd be on Sussex Drive, the views over to Gatineau…” he said. “So it seems to us really a great stretch to think that adding that kind of housing, when the crisis is one of affordability, will make much difference.”

The downtown core and New Edinburgh areas are sought-after for housing. For context, a current listing for a two-bedroom apartment on the corner of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive has a monthly rent of $3,699. Another unit a few streets away from the Sussex Blocks location is $3,300 monthly for two bedrooms. According to Zumper, the average rent in New Edinburgh is approximately $2,400 per month.

“The NCC is already making a huge contribution, and good for them, but based on lands that don't have special character that might be vacant and might be an obscure location,” said McNee. “So this would be just a drop in the bucket, and a drop at the high end of the market.”

The NCC’s National Capital Core Area Plan has been approved, effectively greenlighting the project and clearing the way for the NCC to pursue next steps. In an email to The Lookout, an NCC spokesperson said the redevelopment is “at a very early stage.”

“As a project proposal has not been considered, we do not yet have a timeline to develop the site,” the email said. The NCC did not confirm if further public consultation will be conducted and did not respond to The Lookout’s questions about whether it would prioritize affordable housing.

In the email, the NCC reiterated its commitment to “increase the housing stock” in the National Capital Region and said the NCC “favors a good neighbour approach with municipalities.”

“Any successful applicant to develop the project would potentially go through a City review process,” the email said. In the case of a City review process, it’s possible the development would undergo standard municipal consultation practices.

 Now, McNee said he and the community are left feeling “puzzled” at what he calls a lack of public consultation and foresight.

“Puzzlement leads to concern and concern to opposition. We just don't think it's the right thing, and especially when they've shown themselves capable of doing really creative, exciting things,” he said. “Canadians look to the NCC. That's why it was created. It does all sorts of other good things…But this is part of our heritage. All foreign dignitaries who stay at Rideau Hall, and they travel through Parliament, this is part of their route. 

“There is interest in opposition to it, as seen in signatures to the petition from across the country, across the city, and some people even more broadly,” he added. “So it's really not just a local issue. It starts there, but it's bigger than that.”