Committees endorse refreshed plan to improve housing stability, reduce homelessness

In a joint meeting today, the Planning and Housing Committee and the Community Services Committee approved a refreshed 10‑Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. The plan is Ottawa’s long-term roadmap to improve housing stability and support residents experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It sets a renewed vision of a community where everyone can access housing and the supports they need to thrive. 

The plan responds to growing pressures in Ottawa’s housing and homelessness system by strengthening coordination across housing, health and community services while working alongside Indigenous partners. It expands housing loss prevention efforts and improves pathways from homelessness to stable housing. While centered on residents with low to moderate incomes, the plan also aligns with broader City initiatives to increase housing supply and expand affordable home ownership, helping create more stable and accessible housing across Ottawa. 

The refreshed plan maintains its core priorities – ensuring everyone has a home; providing the supports people need; and strengthening collaboration across the system. It introduces updated goals and outcomes and stronger performance measures to guide decisions and track progress. It moves away from longer planning cycles, relying instead on annual workplans that will enable the City and its partners to respond more quickly to emerging needs and focus resources where they will have the greatest impact. 

If approved by Council, staff will co‑develop the first annual workplan with the Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table later this year, starting with immediate priorities that include: 

• Strengthening coordination between housing and health supports
• Advancing a strategy to end youth homelessness by 2030
• Expanding prevention and diversion programs to reduce shelter entry
• Redesigning coordinated outreach for more consistent support to people living unsheltered
• Supporting Indigenous‑led approaches and initiatives
• Modernizing the family shelter and transitional housing system to help families find housing faster 

These early actions complement ongoing work to preserve and grow community housing and to support tenants with more complex needs. As a City owned entity, Ottawa Community Housing will continue as a key partner in expanding and renewing affordable homes. Additionally, the City will update the Housing Services Long Range Financial Plan in the next Term of Council to map out the long-term investments needed to meet the renewed plan’s goals. 

The refreshed plan also introduces a new income-based definition of housing affordability, shifting away from market rents tied to unit sizes. This approach acknowledges that affordability should be determined by income rather than household size and helps the City plan the types of affordable homes residents need across Ottawa. 

The updated plan builds on meaningful progress achieved since Council last refreshed the 10-Year Plan, in 2020. With approximately $1 billion in combined municipal, provincial and federal investments, the City and its partners have already delivered significant results, while acknowledging that substantial work remains: 

• Creating 554 new affordable homes
• Adding 329 supportive homes
• Creating 700 new transitional housing spaces
• Providing 3,279 new housing benefits for low‑income households
• Preserving more than 25,000 community housing units
• Enhancing outreach and drop-in programs
• Launching new prevention and diversion initiatives 
• Purchasing new sites for future supportive and affordable housing, including 1245 Kilborn Place 

The refreshed plan was co-designed with the Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table, a working group of 18 sector leaders representing youth, justice, newcomer support, lived experts, community health, gender-based violence, and housing and homelessness, as well as the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition, Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, Ottawa Community Housing and the Ottawa Social Housing Network. This collaboration has ensured it reflects real world expertise from across the housing and homelessness system and strengthens how the City and its partners work together to address complex needs. 

The plan is also informed by the latest data, including the 2024 Housing Needs Assessment and recent Point‑in‑Time Counts, which help identify current pressures and guide evidence‑based decision‑making. 

Council will consider the recommendation from today’s meeting on Wednesday, April 8.