A future supportive housing community planned on the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre campus for people with substance use disorder will proceed as planned, but will no longer bear the name of late Friends actor Matthew Perry.
The news was announced in a joint statement posted by the Royal and the Matthew Perry House Foundation.
“Through constructive discussions, Ottawa Community Housing, Salus, The Royal, and Matthew Perry House mutually agreed that the partnership would not continue in its original form. This decision was made amicably, with shared respect for each organization’s mission and priorities,” it read.
The project, first announced as Matthew Perry House, is planned for the Royal’s campus along Carling Avenue and is expected to include roughly 160 supportive housing units along with wraparound recovery services, including career training, apprenticeship services, mental health supports, financial management planning and art therapy.
The vision behind the development was shaped in part by Perry’s own experiences navigating addiction treatment systems that often focused on short stays rather than long-term stability. The Ottawa-born actor died on Oct. 23, 2024, at the age of 54 after an overdose of ketamine.
The model is designed to support people who have already completed initial addiction treatment but still need stable housing and community-based supports to maintain their recovery. Unlike traditional programs that often last only a few months, residents could stay for years if needed.
It remains unclear why the partnership ended and what future plans hold for the Matthew Perry House Foundation.
“All partners recognize the significant and ongoing need for supportive housing and services for individuals and families impacted by substance use disorders,” the joint statement read. “There is shared appreciation for the early contributions that helped bring attention to this important work.”
A new name will be released at a later date, and planning on the project is continuing as expected, “including the land-lease process and upcoming procurement milestones.”
In May 2025, a small crowd gathered behind the Royal for a ceremonial tree planting to mark the future site of what was then expected to become Matthew Perry House.
Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, and his stepfather, Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison, stood alongside city leaders and supporters as a bing cherry tree was planted in his honour — a nod to Perry’s iconic role as Chandler Bing on the sitcom Friends.
At the time, Perry’s sister, Caitlin Morrison, described the project as part of a broader effort to rethink how addiction recovery is supported in Canada.
“We want to ensure that everything we do is part of the objective we all hold to help create better lives, to enable people to create their own better lives,” she told KT at the time.