Ottawa’s 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan
Background
On July 15, 2020, Council approved the City of Ottawa’s 2020 to 2030 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. The Plan guides the City’s efforts to address local housing and homelessness needs.
The Housing Services Act, 2011 requires housing and homelessness plans to cover the next 10 years and be reviewed at least once every five years.
Next steps
The City last reviewed the current 10-Year Plan in 2019. Per the five-year review schedule, work on the next 10-Year Plan will start at the end of 2024. Staff will collaborate with the housing and homelessness sector and be guided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Progress Reports
The City has a responsibility to report annually on their Plan to the province of Ontario. The report includes updates on the Plan’s targets and summarizes the current situation within the housing and homelessness sector.
2023 Progress Report
The 2023 progress report highlights progress made on achieving the targets in the 10-Year Plan. This was despite multiple challenges faced by the housing and homelessness sector in 2023, including:
- a 4.3 per cent increase in the average market rent (as reported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)
- higher interest rates and steep inflation
- increased construction costs
- impacts from the continuing opioid crisis, and
- increased demand on the shelter system by asylum seekers and refugee claimants.
Through a combination of new affordable housing units and housing benefits:
- Over 700 new affordable housing options were created for low- to moderate-income households
- Over 300 households were housed through the Housing First program, and
- Over 380 individuals with a history of chronic homelessness were housed
Increased collaboration between the City and community partners led to the creation of several new strategies and initiatives that will help the City achieve its goals including:
- the Integrated Transition to Housing Strategy,
- the Rapid Rehousing Pilot,
- a Council-led Emergency Shelter Crisis Taskforce, and
- a new Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table.
2022 Progress Report
The 2022 Progress Report is a short update to go with the 2020-2021 Progress Report and highlights key data related to the targets of the 10-Year Plan.
2020-2021 Progress Report
The 2020-2021 Progress Report provides a summary of the progress made in achieving the targets in the 10-Year Plan. It highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the housing and homelessness sector in 2020 and 2021.