The East Block (officially the Eastern Departmental Building;
) is one of the three buildings on
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...
, in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, containing offices for parliamentarians, as well as some preserved pre-
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
spaces.
Built in the
Victorian High Gothic style, the East Block is, along with the
Library of Parliament
The Library of Parliament () is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The library survived th ...
, one of only two buildings on Parliament Hill to have survived mostly intact since original construction. Though not as renowned as the
Centre Block
The Centre Block () is the main building of the Parliament of Canada, Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons and Senate of Canada, Senate chambers, as we ...
of parliament, the East Block formerly appeared on the face of the
Journey Series design of the
Canadian hundred-dollar bill. The East Block is open to the public for tours in July and August.
Characteristics

Designed by
Thomas Stent and
Augustus Laver, the East Block is an
asymmetrical
Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...
structure built in the Victorian High Gothic style, with load bearing masonry walls being nearly 0.9 m (3 ft) thick at the ground level, expanding to 2.1 m (7 ft) thick at the base of the main tower. These are all clad in a rustic Nepean sandstone exterior and dressed stone trim around windows and other edges, as well as displaying a multitude of
stone carvings, including
gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...
s,
grotesque
Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...
s, and
frieze
In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
s, keeping with the style of the rest of the parliamentary complex.
This detail continues on the interior of the East Block, where emblems, such as wheat sheaves, were carved in stone originally to indicate the various government departments housed nearby. The level of quality and luxury of the offices initially indicated the status of the inhabitant: large, wood panelled chambers with marble fireplaces and richly decorated plaster ceilings served for
ministers of the Crown
Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign o ...
; intricate, but somewhat less detailed cornices were sufficient for senior bureaucrats; and basic, machine-made woodwork and concrete fireplace mantles filled rooms set aside for clerks. Though much of the original decor has been retained or restored, the spaces have been reorganized so that the East Block now houses, as well as ministers, members of parliament, senators, and parliamentary administrators. Corridors and entranceways are also lit by windows filled with
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
, and contemporary adaptations of the original gas fixtures adorn the walls. Beneath the decor stand 0.6 m (2 ft) wide, double-
wythe
A wythe is a continuous vertical section of masonry one unit in thickness. A wythe may be independent of, or interlocked with, the adjoining wythe(s). A single wythe of brick that is not structural in nature is referred to as a masonry veneer. ...
masonry partitions with a
rubble fill core, and concrete floors more than 0.3 m (1 ft) thick.
The main historic spaces in the East Block are restored to reflect the period around 1872. The former office of the
Governor General of Canada
The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...
contains its original furnishings, and the woodwork, fireplace, and plasterwork are finished as they would have been just a decade after Confederation. The office that had been occupied by Sir
John A. Macdonald contains a blue-grey Arnprior marble mantle, and the Prime Minister's furniture occupies the room. The previous
King's Privy Council for Canada
The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on State (polity), state and constitutional affair ...
chamber holds a reproduction of the original table made at
Upper Canada Village, above which hangs the same chandelier that hung there before the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
History

The
Department of Public Works sent out on 7 May 1859 a call for architects to submit proposals for the new parliament buildings to be erected on
Barrack Hill, which was answered by 298 submitted drawings. After the entries were narrowed down to three, then
Governor General
Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
Sir
Edmund Walker Head
Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet, KCB (16 February 1805 – 28 January 1868) was a 19th-century British politician and diplomat.
Early life and scholarship
Head was born at Wiarton Place, near Maidstone, Kent, the son of the Reverend Sir J ...
was approached to break the stalemate, and the winner was announced on 29 August. The departmental buildings,
Centre Block
The Centre Block () is the main building of the Parliament of Canada, Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons and Senate of Canada, Senate chambers, as we ...
, and a new residence for the governor general were each awarded separately, and the team of Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver, under the pseudonym of ''Stat nomen in umbra'', won the prize for the first category.
Construction on the East Block commenced by the end of 1859, at the same time as work on the Centre Block and Stent and Laver's
West Block
The West Block (officially the Western Departmental Building; ) is one of the three buildings on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario. Since 28 January 2019, it has housed the interim House of Commons Chamber, installed to accommodate the House wh ...
began. By the time it was completed in 1866, the building was four years behind schedule and costs had risen to $706,549, when $150,000 had originally been allocated. As the home of the office of the
governor general
Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
and the offices for all the
Cabinet ministers, the East Block was immediately occupied by
the Viscount Monck and his
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
,
John A. Macdonald, who occupied the room at the south west corner of the second floor; the same room was also used by
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...
when he was
Secretary for External Affairs.
George-Étienne Cartier
Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadians, Canadian statesman and Fathers of Confederation, Father of Confederation.
The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, th ...
used an office at the northern end of the west wing, which was thereafter used by every prime minister until
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
. The
King's Privy Council chamber was used for
cabinet meetings for 105 years, and was where the
British North America Act 1867
The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (30 & 31 Vict. c. 3) (),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 1867'' (BNA Act), ...
was formulated, decisions about the
Red River Rebellion
The Red River Rebellion (), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by Métis leader Louis Riel and his f ...
s were made, and Canada's war involvement was orchestrated. As the number of staff on Parliament Hill grew with the expansion of the country, however, ever more office space was desired; in 1910 a new wing was added to the rear of the East Block, enclosing the courtyard, providing area for the
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
and vault space, and costing $359,121.
In the East Block's early days, the wives of ministers and senior staff attended tea in the building each Thursday afternoon, and other socializing took place outside of the working hours of 10am to 4pm. As well, governors general held their annual
New Year's
Levee
A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...
in the building from 1870 until
the Marquess of Willingdon moved the event to the Centre Block in 1928. Though the building contained many examples of the cutting edge technology of the time, such as a system of electric bells for communications, and state of the art sanitary, ventilation, and heating equipment, its spaces were continually chilly in winter and overheated in summer; during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the external air intakes were closed off for fear of German spies entering them. Thereafter, the East Block showed more and more decay, which was further exacerbated by crude renovations and interventions during the
Modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
period, and, at several points, the idea of demolishing the building in favour of a modern office block was put forward.
However, restoration of some interiors began in 1966, seeing Macdonald's office and the privy council chamber returned to an 1870 appearance, and after which the public was allowed entry for a few hours each weekend. Another spurt of renovations were completed in 1981, wherein the governor general's former office was restored, and then the mechanical and electrical systems, and the masonry of the 1910 wing, which had never previously been worked on, were renovated in 1997.
Plans for the restoration of the Parliamentary precinct originally called for the temporary relocation of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
chamber to the inner courtyard of the East Block. However, the revised plan saw the Senate chamber housed in the former Union Station, currently the
Government Conference Centre, after renovations are completed to that building in 2018.
On 5 April 2025, a man was arrested for illegally entering the building and locking himself inside for hours, prompting a major security response.
References
External links
Explore the Hill - East Block(Parliament of Canada]
{{Parliament Hill
Parliament of Canada buildings
Gothic Revival architecture in Ottawa
1866 establishments in Canada
Federal government buildings in Ottawa