The Government Conference Centre

Excellent service, invaluable heritage

Historical negotiations, royal visits, international heads of state, national celebrations and a Pope. In its nearly 100 years of existence in the heart of the nation’s capital, the Government Conference Centre has seen it all.

Situated near the effluence of Ottawa’s Rideau Canal — across the street from the Chateau Laurier Hotel and a stone’s throw away from Parliament Hill’s East Block — the Government Conference Centre is a key historic element among the buildings immediately surrounding the National War Memorial.

Today this Classified Heritage Building serves as headquarters for Events and Conference Management (E&CM) — a trademark PWGSC service that provides departments and agencies with meeting space in and around the National Capital Area.

"We are the government’s one-stop shop for conference services," says PWGSC’s Mike Haerkens, Manager, Events and Conference Management. "On any given day, we have 20 to 30 conferences taking place at our various facilities."

Flexible and fast-acting, E&CM can accommodate anything on short notice. Some examples include hosting three consecutive international conferences — including the World Bank and G20 — that were originally scheduled to take place in New York City around the time of 9/11, and co-operating with the United States Secret Service to secure the building and surrounding area for visiting President George W. Bush.

"Beyond the basics of fitting up rooms with pens and notepads, and audio and video equipment, we will cater to any need a client has," says Mr. Brian Cook, a Logistic and Facilities Manager who has been with E&CM for over 30 years.

Invaluable heritage

The building, originally a railway station, became the Conference Centre in 1969 under the direction of the late Right Honourable Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau who wanted a site reserved specifically for government-hosted events. In this capacity, it has served as a welcome spot for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, His Royal Highness Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, His Holiness the late Pope John Paul II, and Commonwealth and international heads of state. As well, it has been a meeting spot for international discussions on topics ranging from land mines and human rights to the world economy. In 1981, it served as the international press centre for the G8 Summit in Canada and was also the site of Prime Minister Trudeau’s Federal-Provincial Constitutional conferences which led to the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982.

For the first 55 years of its existence, the building was the Grand Trunk Railway’s Union Station. Inspired by Roman and beaux-arts concepts and designed in 1908 by Montreal architects Ross and MacFarlane, it opened its doors in 1912 — and it’s been a hub of bustling activity ever since.

Feeding directly into Ottawa’s downtown core and linked by an underground tunnel to the Chateau Laurier, Union Station was the city’s first point of entry for railway passengers of all walks of life — including immigrants, war veterans, national political figures and such international dignitaries as Japan’s Crown Prince Akihito, Britain’s Sir Winston Churchill, and China’s Madame Chiang Kai Shek.

When the railway shut down in 1966, the action did not subside. The following year the building entered the Government of Canada’s real estate portfolio and became "Centennial Centre" — featuring public exhibitions celebrating Canada’s 100th birthday throughout 1967.

Two years later it would become the Government Conference Centre we know today, serving satisfied clients and visitors who regularly laud the high quality of both the service and the facility.

"Functional renovations to the building have not interfered with the original structure and heritage detailing," says Mr. Cook. "In many ways, the building is like it was when it opened 94 years ago."