More than halfway through its current 10-year housing plan, Ottawa is shifting gears, proposing a slightly different plan to address the city’s housing crisis.
A joint planning and housing committee is to table a motion on Tuesday, March 24 recommending council approve a “refreshed” 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan. The kicker? It’s the same length as the original one.
Should council approve the motion, the new 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan will replace the current 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan, which was to be in place until 2030.
The original plan, which was approved by council in July 2020, was meant to address Ottawa’s housing emergency.
Ottawa has added 765 affordable homes to the current housing landscape, including 430 newly built homes and 335 existing affordable homes, over the past five years.
Two men talk in the ByWard Market.
So why change tactics now?
The shift was due partially by a new national tool that measures the number of people experiencing homelessness in communities across the country.
The Point-in-Time (PiT) Count, which essentially provides a snapshot of homelessness at a given time, helps track two things: The number of people experiencing homelessness every year, as well as individuals’ demographics and experiences with homelessness every three years.
The city’s shift comes after the tri-annual survey from 2024.
“The (2024) PiT Count data demonstrates that despite making progress over the past five years, there is still a growing need in the community,” read the report, adding that much has changed since council approved the original 10-year plan.
In 2024, the PiT Count showed 2,952 people were experiencing homelessness compared to 2,612 in 2021, a 13 per cent increase.
A homeless man sleeps in a downtown park in Ottawa.
The tri-annual survey showed that while 11 per cent of people were unsheltered or living in an encampment in 2021, that number had grown to 16 per cent by 2024.
The report says the new plan is meant to address “housing and homelessness spectrum” for housing needs of people with low to moderate incomes.
The new mandate plans to preserve the previous plan’s three main priorities: everyone has a home, people get the support they need and “we work together”. But it also has a long-term vision, six guiding principles, three overarching priorities, seven goals and 18 objectives.
The new plan says that, in addition to preserving existing community housing stock and preventing housing loss, it will include annual plans to deliver on its short-term projects.
The report says the plan will require co-ordinated effort between the city and other housing and homelessness partners across the city.
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