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The Salvation Army says rising costs mean its future shelter and social services hub on Montreal Road will not move ahead as it was proposed.
In a statement to CBC, the organization said the proposed Centre of Hope at 333 Montreal Rd. “will not proceed as originally conceived.”
“Since initial site plan approvals were secured several years ago, construction costs and market conditions have changed significantly,” the statement reads.
The Salvation Army said no decisions have been made about the project’s future, but there are “internal discussions” underway about next steps.
The proposed development was initially approved with roughly 350 shelter beds in 2017 after a week of marathon meetings. After facing opposition from the community an Ontario Land Tribunal appeal, which failed, the project scope was scaled back to 211 beds in 2022.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante said she’s heard little about the project since taking office later that same year.
“I think it’s safe to say the residents of Vanier were never for this project,” she said.
“If the Salvation Army is to come forward with a project that includes housing, I think the residents would be open to that.”
Drew Dobson, the founder of SOS Vanier, is pictured here in 2017. Dobson says if the Salvation Army shelter project is to move forward, it should include long-term housing rather than shelter beds. (Jennifer Chevalier/CBC)Shelters ‘not a solution,’ says councillor
The update comes as the approach to tackling homelessness in Ottawa is evolving.
Last week, the Shepherds of Good Hope announced plans to eventually replace its Lowertown emergency shelter with supportive housing, with its CEO saying longer-term housing leads to better outcomes for clients.
Plante said she wants to see any future Salvation Army project on Montreal Road follow that example.
“We recognize that shelters are not a solution,” she said.
It’s a sentiment that’s echoed by Drew Dobson, the president of SOS Vanier, a residents’ group he founded to promote alternative solutions to homelessness.
They opposed the original Centre of Hope proposal, believing the solution was “housing rather than shelters.”
Members of SOS Vanier protest outside an open house hosted by the Salvation Army in 2017 about their proposed Vanier shelter. (Amanda Pfeffer/CBC)
“We believe that shelters were warehousing of the homeless and we were very opposed to it,” said Dobson, adding he was “heartened” to hear the project had stalled.
“Shelter beds are a thing of the past,” he said.
If the Salvation Army returns to the project, Dobson hopes it will focus on longer-term solutions.
“We’ve got to maintain the beds that we have now,” he said. “But I think every homeless person we get in the future, we have to find them homes.”