Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa

The building, as named, serves as a de facto embassy in Canada for the Ismaili Imamat, the institutional office of the Imams (spiritual leaders) of the Nizari Shia Muslims.

The building was initiated by the Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam of the Nizaris in the presence of Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, on June 6, 2005.

[2][3][4] The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat was formally opened by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday, December 6, 2008 during an official visit of the Aga Khan to Ottawa.

Also in attendance were former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, writer John Ralston Saul, David Mulroney, chief of the PCO Afghan task force, his CIDA counterpart Stephen Wallace, former deputy minister of foreign affairs Peter Harder, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin, former ambassador to Washington Derek Burney, former Liberal foreign minister Bill Graham, former ambassador to the UN Allan Rock, Herb Gray, the longest serving MP in Canadian history and various ambassadors of other countries to Canada.

[3] It is configured as an elongated, rectangular ring, surrounding an interior atrium and an exterior courtyard that features a traditional Chahr-bagh Islamic garden.

[1][2] The building rests on a solid linear granite podium, and is covered by a glass dome through which light illuminates the atrium and courtyard.