The official residence of the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been forced to shut down since 2022 making it uninhabitable due to rodent infestation.
The residence, which has hosted the country’s prime ministers for more than 70 years, is now empty and full of ageing electrical wiring and rusted water pipes, BBC reported.
The local government said that the house faces many problems including drafty windows that let in cold air, no central air conditioning and a fire trap rife with asbestos. The Canadian PM’s official house, unlike the White House or 10 Downing Street, has been in despair since 2015 and nears “catastrophic collapse".
However, the biggest problem, the authorities said was the building’s “mouse issue which caused additional problems". The estimated cost to fix the property now stands at more than $26 million.
“There is an important rodent infestation, which can’t be fully addressed until the building envelope issues are resolved,” the document read.
There were so many dead mice trapped behind the walls and heaped in the basement that the officials had to shut down the building. The building’s interior walls contain hazardous asbestos and cannot be removed until a remediation plan is in place, The Guardian reported.
Moreover, the masses of decomposing mice and excrement had led to “real concerns with air quality” within the residence.
The house has been vacant since 2015 and the restoration work would not be an inexpensive affair.
The house, with 34 rooms spanning in an area of 12,000 square-foot, was once Justin Trudeau’s childhood home. The Canadian Prime Minister used to live with his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, when he served as the prime minister.
The house once hosted prominent guests including John F Kennedy, Princess Diana and Mikhail Gorbachev.
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