About: Government Houses in Canada

In Canada, Government House is a title given to the royal residences of the country's monarch, various viceroys (the governor general, the lieutenant governors), and territorial commissioners. Though not universal, in most cases the title is also the building's sole name; for example, the sovereign's and governor general's principal residence in Ottawa is known as Government House only in formal contexts, being more generally referred to as Rideau Hall. The use of the term Government House is an inherited custom from the British Empire, where there were and are many government houses.