Embassy of Sweden, Ottawa

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Embassy of Sweden, Ottawa
Map
LocationOttawa
AddressPostal address:
Embassy of Sweden
377 Dalhousie Street, Suite 305
Ottawa ON K1N 9N8
Canada
Opening1943
AmbassadorSigne Burgstaller
(since 2023)
WebsiteOfficial website

The Embassy of Sweden in Ottawa is Sweden's diplomatic mission in Canada. The Swedish embassy in Canada represents the Swedish government in Canada and The Bahamas. The embassy is located in ByWard Market in the downtown core of the capital of Ottawa. Ambassador since 2019 is Urban Ahlin. Sweden also has nine honorary consulates in Canada.[1]

History[edit]

In August 1943, the Swedish government decided to establish a diplomatic mission in Ottawa and close the Consulate General of Sweden, Montreal. Consul General in Montreal Per Wijkman was appointed as the envoy to Ottawa.[2] In March 1956, an agreement was reached between the Swedish and Canadian governments on the mutual elevation of the two countries' legations to embassies. In connection with this, on 16 March, the Swedish government appointed the newly appointed envoy there, Oscar Thorsing, as Sweden's ambassador in Ottawa.[3]

Buildings[edit]

Chancery[edit]

From 1943 to 1944, the chancery was located at the Chateau Laurier Hotel at 1 Rideau Street in Downtown Ottawa.[4] In 1945, the chancery was located to a building next to the ambassadorial residence, at 720 Manor Avenue[a] in Rockcliffe Park. 819 Coltrin Road was the location of the residence.[5] In 1949, a legation office was opened at 1462 Bishop Street in Montreal.[6] From 1950 to 1953, the legation office was located at Bishop Court Apartments on 1511 Bishop Street.[7][8]

In 1950, the chancery was still located at 720 Manor Avenue but the residence was located at 219 Coltrin Road in Rockcliffe Park.[9] The years 1958–1964, the chancery was located in Suite 704 in the Victoria Building at 140 Wellington Street, opposite the West Block building.[10][11] In 1965 it moved to Suite 604 at the same address where it remained until 1979.[12][13] The years 1980–1989, the embassy was located at 441 Maclaren Street in Centretown.[14][15] Since 1990, the embassy is located at 377 Dalhousie Street in ByWard Market.[16]

Residence[edit]

The ambassadorial residence is located at 700 Manor Avenue and was built in 1913. The architect was Allan Keefer. Keefer has designed many of buildings in the upscale Rockcliffe Park neighborhood. This house, then called "Raewood", he designed for his brother Thomas Coltin Keefer Jr. Thomas Keefer Jr. ran into financial difficulties and in 1919 he was forced to sell the property to James William Woods, who in turn sold it on to Gilbert Emilius Fauguier in 1920. The house was then named "Ardvar". The Fauguier family also built a house for their driver "Ardvar Cottage", which is still used as residence for embassy staff. In 1944, the Swedish state bought "Ardvar" from Gilbert Fauguier's widow.[17]

The house is located on a promontory above the Ottawa River. The house has two floors and a basement. It is built in solid red brick and the roof is clad with slate tiles. The building style is called Queen Anne Revival architecture and the house has a Flemish-inspired balustrade on the garden side facade. One is crowned with a large plastered pine cone. The residence has two main facades. One faces south, where there is the driveway and the entrance. The other to the north overlooks the river and Acacia Avenue, which you can reach through a gate. Previously, the tram passed by here with its own stop, which from the beginning was the Keefers family. The representation part of the house houses a hall, three lounges, a library, a large and small dining room, staff rooms, a kitchen and guest toilets. In the private part there are four bedrooms, living room, kitchen and three bathrooms.

In 1986, the predecessor of the National Property Board of Sweden, the National Swedish Board of Public Building (Byggnadstyrelsen), completed an extension. It included the large dining room and a laundry room in the basement as well as a wing with staff rooms and stairwells to the basement. At the same time, all bathrooms were modernized. The architect was the local architectural firm Murray & Murray Associates. Since then, the National Property Board of Sweden, has installed new boilers for city gas in 2001 and renovated the kitchen in 2005. In addition to the residence, there is the staff housing building with a private garden, two garages, garden storage and a gazebo on the site. In 1986, about 3,500 sqm was cut off of the plot and sold. The garden is park-like. Today it covers about 19,000 sqm.

Tasks[edit]

The embassy is the formal communication link between the Swedish and Canadian governments. The ambassador leads the embassy's work and is Sweden's official representative in Canada. The embassy monitor and report to the Swedish government on political, economic and financial events and happenings in Canada that are important for bilateral relations.[18]

Heads of Mission[edit]

Name Period Title Accreditation
Per Wijkman 1943–1951 Envoy
Klas Böök 1951–1956 Envoy
Oscar Thorsing 1956–1962 Ambassador
Ragnvald Bagge 1962–1965 Ambassador
Per Lind 1965–1969 Ambassador
Åke Malmaeus 1969–1976 Ambassador
Per Anger 1976–1979 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[13]
Kaj Björk 1980–1984 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[19]
Ola Ullsten 1984–1989 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[15]
Håkan Berggren 1989–1995 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[20]
Jan Ståhl 1995–2000 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[21]
Lennart Alvin 2000–2005 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[22]
Ingrid Iremark 2005–2010 Ambassador Also accredited to Nassau.[23]
Teppo Tauriainen 2010–2014 Ambassador
Per Sjögren 2014–2019 Ambassador
Urban Ahlin 2019–2023 Ambassador
Signe Burgstaller 2023–present Ambassador

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ The Swedish ambassadorial residence is located on 700 Manor Avenue and the property on 700 Manor Avenue was later used to house embassy staff.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kanada" [Canada] (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Beskickning i Ottawa". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1943-08-06. p. A9. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Thorsing ambassadör". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1956-03-17. p. 6A. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ^ Sveriges statskalender för skottåret 1944 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1944. p. 258.
  5. ^ Sveriges statskalender för året 1945 (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1945. p. 263.
  6. ^ Sveriges statskalender för året 1949 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1949. p. 275.
  7. ^ Sveriges statskalender för året 1950 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1950. p. 280.
  8. ^ Sveriges statskalender för året 1953 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1953. p. 301.
  9. ^ Sveriges statskalender för året 1950 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1950. p. 280.
  10. ^ Sveriges statskalender för året 1958 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1958. p. 295.
  11. ^ Sveriges statskalender för skottåret 1964 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1964. p. 307.
  12. ^ Sveriges statskalender 1965 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1965. p. 316.
  13. ^ a b Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1979). Sveriges statskalender 1979 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 335. ISBN 91-38-04622-9. SELIBR 3682760.
  14. ^ Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1980). Sveriges statskalender 1980 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 335. ISBN 91-38-05350-0. SELIBR 33682761.
  15. ^ a b Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1989). Sveriges statskalender 1989 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 361. ISBN 9138121735. SELIBR 3682768.
  16. ^ Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1990). Sveriges statskalender 1990 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 353. ISBN 913812291X. SELIBR 3682769.
  17. ^ "Ottawa, Kanada, ambassadörens residens" [Ottawa, Canada, ambassadoral residence] (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  18. ^ "About us". Embassy of Sweden, Ottawa. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  19. ^ Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1984). Sveriges statskalender 1984 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 345. ISBN 91-38-90400-4. SELIBR 3682782.
  20. ^ Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1995). Sveriges statskalender 1995 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 174. ISBN 91-38-30428-7. SELIBR 3682775.
  21. ^ Salander Mortensen, Jill, ed. (1996). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1997 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1997] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 1064. ISBN 91-1-960852-7. SELIBR 3681533.
  22. ^ Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2005). Sveriges statskalender 2005 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 180. ISBN 9138321971. SELIBR 9879458.
  23. ^ Sveriges statskalender 2010 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB/Fritzes. 2010. p. 185. ISBN 978-91-38-32520-9. SELIBR 11846164.

External links[edit]


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