The Canadian government is preparing to offload 10 of its properties in the national capital region, including four registered federal heritage buildings. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) released the list of properties “in various stages of the disposal process” last week as part of an invitation to select stakeholders to bring forward plans to productively reposition the space.

Under the government’s directive for managing its real property, sites deemed surplus to the government’s needs are first to be offered to Crown corporations, provincial/territorial and municipal governments or their agencies and Indigenous peoples. PSPC’s communique notes that it welcomes proposals for affordable housing, redesigned community or commercial space and projects that would meaningfully involve Indigenous participation and promote reconciliation.

The disposal list includes office properties in downtown Ottawa, the nearby enclave known as Tunney’s Pasture and on some of the city’s major arterial roads, as well as a campus of low-rise buildings on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. Current federal offices within the buildings are to be moved to other locations in Ottawa and/or Gatineau.

“The Government of Canada’s shift to a hybrid work model will enable us to relocate these employees into modern accommodations,” the PSPC communique advises. “We will continue to assess and optimize the performance of our office portfolio as our clients’ long-term office plans evolve. While our current list only identifies buildings in the national capital region, buildings in other regions may be added in the future.”

The four registered heritage buildings were built in the 1950s and 1960s and include:

• The Brooke Claxton Building, a 19-storey office tower in the Modern International architecture style;
• 1500 Bronson Avenue, also known as the CBC Building, which is considered a leading Canadian example of the expressionist strain of modernism;
• The Asticou Centre, which offers a blending of several architectural styles of the 1960s, with notable elements of the International style; and
• The Sir Charles Tupper Building, which boasts International architectural style and a park-like hillside setting.

None of the properties are yet for sale on the open market.