Canada’s First Street Museum

Ottawa's Laurier Avenue East and its surrounding streets in Sandy Hill represent one of the most nationally important small-scale cultural landscapes in the country that most Canadians have never heard of it. We want to change that. 

Prime Ministers’ Row (PMR) began as a grassroots neighbourhood initiative that has evolved into a large-scale national legacy project to transform this important streetscape and its environs into Canada’s First Street Museum - an innovative, immersive, interactive and intergenerational place where Canadians can discover, interpret and forge their own views of Canada’s history from all perspectives.

But why?

Because Sandy Hill houses some of the most important stories, secrets and scandals of our entire country. For a century after Canada began as a nation, Canadian leaders in governance and democracy from all backgrounds and walks of life have lived in its mansions and apartment buildings, and have walked its streets and back alleys, including – extraordinarily – fifteen Fathers of Confederation and Prime Ministers, many of whose houses still remain.

Today, when you wander through Sandy Hill, you’re actually walking in the footsteps of our nation-builders and our national leaders, of our global influencers and our international figures. From Sir John A. Macdonald to Sir Winston Churchill and from Barbara Ann Scott to Oscar Peterson, the people who are part of the fabric of this neighbourhood have not only borne witness to history but have actually made it.

This neighbourhood was their place. But it is also our space. Because we also built this country. And we’re still building it.

“I have never before seen, in any city, in any land, more people of prominence living in so small an area.” - Anson Gard, 1904

We want to leverage Sandy Hill’s hidden history to transform this neighbourhood into a world-class, citizen-centred civic and cultural hub that examines the lives and legacies of all former Canadian Prime Ministers and that brings Canadians from across the country together to celebrate Canadian leadership in democracy and governance.

Be Part of this Legacy 

We need your help! By making a contribution today, you will help us reach the next set of milestones that are critical to realizing PMR's vision - a gathering place for all Canadians that links past to present to future - and you will become part of a legacy that will enrich the lives of Canadians from all walks of life for generations to come.