The long, bitter winter of 2026 has taken a toll on Ottawa’s shelters where capacity has become a major challenge.
“We’ve been seeing unprecedented levels since at least the pandemic, and especially in the three years that I’ve been here,” Myles Dingwall, senior communications officer for The Ottawa Mission, says. “In the winter, we’ll see an uptick of around 10 per cent or more of people who are staying overnight with us.”
Dingwall says the Mission, with 238 shelter beds in Sandy Hill, has been turning other rooms into temporary sleeping accommodations to address demand, but it’s not enough.
“When we’re over-capacity, we actually put down sleeping mats in our chapel. But it only adds around 10 to 12 additional shelter beds,” Dingwall said. “People unfortunately end up sleeping in our waiting room overnight, in our chairs, upright.”
Data from the City of Ottawa shows the average number of individuals staying in temporary shelters has nearly doubled since 2022, reaching more than 3,800 shelter stays in January 2026 alone.
Alexi White, director of systems change at Maytree, a charity which focuses on poverty reduction, says winter weather highlights the need for year-round response to homelessness.
“It becomes more visible, which is important, even though homelessness is a problem throughout the year,” White said. “You’ll find, anecdotally, shelters having to expand capacity because fewer homeless are able to sleep rough. Staying warm becomes critical.”
Data from the federal government shows median homelessness last year peaked in December 2025, reaching 31.7 per 10,000 people, a period when Ottawa saw unusually low temperatures. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Monthly Climate Summary shows Ottawa’s average temperature was -9 C, 3.2 C lower than the average December temperature from 1991 to 2020 of -5.8 C.
River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington says homelessness in winter requires an “all hands-on deck” approach from shelters and the city, particularly when it comes to making sure there’s awareness of what services are available.
“One homeless person is too many, in my view,” said Brockington, who sits on the city’s Community Services Committee. “And a big concern of mine for a few years is a general lack of awareness, what numbers to call and what services they can provide. That problem obviously becomes more urgent in the winter when sleeping outside can be challenging.”
On Jan. 29, 2020, Ottawa became the first major city to declare a homelessness emergency. In response to growing concerns, the city initiated a review of its 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan in 2025, to update the plan after the pandemic. A presentation to city council is scheduled this year.
Ottawa is also looking at ways to build more transitional housing. Last summer, the city announced they would renovate a 30,000 square foot office building on Queen Street to accommodate an additional 140 units, complete with kitchens, dining areas, and laundry facilities.
White said decision-makers tend to focus on the supply of housing as the sole issue.
“Local conversations on homelessness often overemphasize supply,” White said. “Not that supply isn’t a critical issue, but there’s actually a lot of evidence that we can house people in the private market if we give them enough money to participate in it.”
White cited the example of the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, a government program that provides direct assistance to households on the social housing waitlist.
Brockington agrees.
“Some people believe that just building more housing is the solution, a housing-first model, but if you do not provide them with wraparound services, it will be a failure.”
The Coldest Night of the Year, a national campaign by the Blue Sea Foundation on Feb. 28 this year, brought together charities across the country to organize walks and fundraising campaigns, with the goal of bringing more attention to homelessness in the winter. The Ottawa Mission is one of the groups that organized a walk.
For Dingwall, Coldest Night of the Year event highlighted the challenges of winter homelessness by having people participate in a walk outside.
“I think Coldest Night of the Year has really helped us grow from a fundraising and participation perspective in Ottawa,” Dingwall said.
Brockington said awareness is growing that more needs to be done to address homelessness during the winter.
“There’s much greater engagement and much greater acceptance of tax dollars going towards this,” Brockington said. “The city is doing more to invest in wraparound support, and helping our shelters take the lead with day-to-day response.”
White says greater awareness among the public can be a mixed blessing, leading to government inaction on homelessness.
“On the one hand, it’s great to see that kind of public response, and we want people to have a sense of compassion and do what they can to help,” White said.
Dingwall said that seeing how many people participate every year gives him hope when work at the mission gets heavy.
“Anecdotally, they release a new toque every year for the event and it’s always encouraging when I’m riding the LRT and you see somebody with that toque. You know that they care and they’re trying to help. The thing that keeps me going is when I get to come in and meet the clients and tell success stories.”