The City of Ottawa is pointing out several statistics showing promising stories of people getting out of homelessness, but thousands are still waiting.
According to a memo sharing the 2025 Housing and Homelessness Plan Progress Report, which is an update to the previous 10-year plan, staff note that there are “ongoing pressures and complex challenges in 2025.”
However, “significant” progress, they note, was still made to help people out of homelessness.
1,017 households housed from the Centralized Wait List
1,037 households housed from the shelter system
109 unsheltered individuals housed
388 households housed through the Housing First program
193 households housed through the Indigenous Housing First Program
525 low-income households housed through new housing benefits
31 affordable and 48 supportive housing units completed
907 affordable and 87 supportive housing units under construction as of December
31, 2025
One of the key indicators is how long it takes for people needing subsidized housing to receive it.
According to the city’s website, the centralized wait list for housing remains at about 16,347 households, meaning last year about 6.22 per cent were given a home. Wait times for housing can be up to five years, the site reads.
Fluctuations in the price of housing and the number of people needing help change dramatically from year to year. The report reveals that between 2024 and 2025, the overall number of homeless people increased, meaning the municipality is further away from its goal of reducing homelessness by 25 per cent.
704 families experiencing chronic homelessness
Chronic homelessness reduced by 100 per cent, was further away in 2024 and was lowered dramatically the next year, the report shows.
The highest proportion of those suffering from chronic homelessness is single adult men in the nation’s capital; single adult women make up the third largest group after families.
Ottawa housed 1,016 people who were chronically homeless.
It notes that 8,947 people are accessing shelters in Ottawa, of whom 1,037 were housed from the system in 2025.
Visuals showcasing statistics from the City of Ottawa.
Building affordable housing
In April, Prime Minister Mark Carney boasted how the federal government is “exceeding” targets for affordable housing in the nation’s capital.
At a press conference on a construction site in his riding of Nepean, the prime minister said that as part of the Build Canada Homes partnership with the City of Ottawa, the federal government is adding eight new housing projects.
It brings the total of units to 1,100, exceeding the targets by about 10 per cent, the press release notes.
This is part of a first-of-its-kind partnership between the City of Ottawa and the federal government. The multi-billion-dollar agreement is expected to bring thousands of houses to the nation’s capital through Build Canada Homes.
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