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The City of Ottawa is poised to purchase a former downtown hotel for use as transitional housing for families experiencing homelessness.
In a report prepared for the city’s finance and corporate services committee on March 3, city staff recommend buying 377 O’Connor St., located on the southeast corner of O’Connor and Gladstone Avenue, to help relieve the strain on the family shelter system.
The recently renovated building was not publicly listed for sale. It has been both a hotel and an extended-stay apartment building, but has been vacant since last year when hospitality chain Sonder declared bankruptcy.
The building has 128 units ranging from studios to one-, two- and three-bedroom suites.
Staff say the purchase would leverage funding from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which will cover up to 95 per cent of the $45-million purchase if it’s approved before April 1.
“This enables the city to secure a long-term asset at no direct cost to the municipal tax base while simultaneously reducing dependence on external and higher cost accommodation options, such as hotels,” the staff report said.
While emergency shelters are intended for short-term stays, transitional housing allows families to stay for longer before eventually moving into longer-term housing.
The city began searching for a property last September, and staff have chosen this one over seven others. The current owner purchased the building in 2020, and was asking $50 million.
Occupancy is anticipated to commence as early as the third quarter of 2026, following preparation of the units and other facilities.
If approved by the committee on March 3, the recommendation will then go to city council for approval.
Increased demand from families
According to the report, demand on the city’s family shelters is on the rise, with 400 families in the system in August 2023 and 600 by August 2025. Many of those families end up being placed in hotels, motels and post-secondary residences.
As of December, approximately 500 families were living in overflow accommodation, with about 30 more on the waitlist.
The city said it currently has two facilities in its permanent family shelter system, including 1 Corkstown Rd., which serves 128 families. The other transitional shelter serves 40 families.
City data for 2025 showed families stayed an average of 203 consecutive days per year in emergency shelter.
Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster said purchasing a property to house families is better than the alternative of putting them up in cramped hotels. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
Coun. Ariel Troster praised the pending purchase of the O’Connor Street property. She said using a vacant and newly renovated property to house families experiencing homelessness is better than the alternative of putting them up in motels.
CBC News has been reporting on the growing number of homeless families in Ottawa since 2018. In many cases, the city had to place them in motel rooms with one bathroom and no kitchen.
“Right now we have such an overflow in the motels and in our family shelter system that to find something much better than the accommodations for families are staying right now is a real win for those families, and for the city,” Troster said.
Staff say purchasing the property will also save the city about $2.5 million per year on renting an equivalent number of hotel rooms for families.