The Confederation Building serves as the home of the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Building in St. Jo ...

. It is located on Confederation Hill overlooking

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

's capital city, St. John's. The brick- and concrete-clad building has 11 stories and is tall. It was completed in 1960 at a cost of $9 million to replace the

Colonial Building The Colonial Building is a historic government building located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The building was the home of the colonial and later provincial Newfoundland government and the House of Assembly from January 28, 1 ...

. A lantern is located at the top of the copper roof of the central tower and acts as a beacon when turned on at night. In 1982, construction began on the West Block extension, a modern 7-storey structure, which is a six-storey building, with a gross floor area of . The original building is now considered the East Block of the Confederation Building. A third building on the legislature campus is the Service Building Annex a two-storey building housing a day care centre and garage for some provincial government vehicles.

Complex

The complex consists of two buildings that house most departments of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. It also contains the provincial legislature, and offices for elected members.

East Block

The original and tallest of the two buildings. It is home to these provincial government departments, agencies, and offices: * Office of the Premier *

Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador The Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador (in French: ''le Conseil exécutif de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador'', but informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Newfoundland and Labrador, and in French: ''le Cabinet de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador'' ...

* Department of Finance * Department of Justice and Public Safety *

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

*Office of the Official Opposition *Office of the Third Party *Government Members Office *Protocol Office *Cabinet Secretariat *Communications and Consultation Branch *Hansard Office *House of Assembly Broadcast Centre

West Block

Opened in 1985, this building is to the west of the East Block and contains most other provincial government departments, and various offices and agencies: * Department of Immigration, Skills and Labour *Department of Education *Department of Health and Community Services * Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation *Department of Environment and Climate Change * Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development *Department of Transportation and Infrastructure *Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs *Digital Government and Service NL *Office of Public Engagement *Center for Learning and Development *Policy Innovation and Accountability Office *Office of Women and Gender Equality *Disability Policy Office

Off site

Remaining departments of the provincial government are located in other offices in St. John's: *81 Kenmount Road - Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development *Petten Building, Strawberry Marsh Road - Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture * Industry, Energy and Technology Building, 50 Elizabeth Avenue - Department of Industry, Energy and Technology *Howley Building, Higgins Line - Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Municipalities *40 Higgins Line - Office of the Chief Information Officer *Sir Brian Dunfield Building, 50 Mundy Pond Road - Public Service Commission *Argyle Building, Portugal Cove Rd - Research and Development Corporation *25 Hallett Crescent - Fire and Emergency Services *2 Canada Drive - Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner

Statues and landmarks at the Legislature

A number of statues and landmarks are located near the building: *Statue of

Gaspar Corte-Real Gaspar Corte-Real (1450–1501) was a Portuguese explorer who, alongside his father João Vaz Corte-Real and brother Miguel, participated in various exploratory voyages sponsored by the Portuguese Crown. These voyages are said to have been some o ...

- located southeast of the building *Statue of

John Cabot John Cabot ( it, Giovanni Caboto ; 1450 – 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest-known European exploration of coastal Nor ...

- located at the foot of the steps at the East Block *Statue of Sir

Wilfred Grenfell Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (28 February 1865 – 9 October 1940) was a British medical missionary to Newfoundland, who wrote books on his work and other topics. Early life and education He was born at Parkgate, Cheshire, England, on 28 Febr ...

*An enamel-coated metal

coat of arms of Newfoundland and Labrador The coat of arms of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador was originally granted by Garter King of Arms, during the reign of King Charles I of England, on 1 January 1637/8. History On November 13, 1637, "all that whole Continent Island ...

donated by businessman Paul J. Hohnson in 2000 is surrounded by a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

stone lookout located in front of the East Block *the

flag of Canada The national flag of Canada (french: le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the Maple Leaf or ' (; ), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in ...

flag of Newfoundland and Labrador The flag of Newfoundland and Labrador was introduced in 1980 and was designed by Newfoundland artist Christopher Pratt. The flag design was approved by the House of Assembly of the province of Newfoundland, Canada, on May 28, 1980. It was flown f ...

, and the British

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

fly in front of the building

References