New strategy helps families experiencing homelessness move more quickly into stable housing

The Community Services Committee approved a new approach to help families experiencing homelessness move more quickly out of temporary shelter and into safe, stable housing. 

Pathways to Housing, Ottawa’s Family Homelessness Strategy, responds to the reality that families are staying longer in the shelter system because safe, affordable housing is hard to find. Today, families are the largest group experiencing homelessness in Ottawa, and demand continues to grow. More than 660 families were experiencing homelessness in Ottawa as of March 1, including more than 1,220 children. Families in shelter are staying for an average of 11 months and about 76 per cent are living in overflow locations, such as hotels and motels, rather than in dedicated transitional housing. Long stays and temporary placements can be disruptive for children and caregivers and can make it harder for families to find stability. 

The strategy focuses on helping families leave temporary shelter as quickly as possible and move into stable, long‑term housing. The aim is to reduce the harm homelessness causes to children and caregivers, helping families heal, rebuild stability and thrive once they are safely housed.  

The strategy supports a more sustainable, long-term approach to reducing family homelessness by putting the refreshed 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan into action. It focuses on prevention, expands access to transitional housing, improves coordination across systems and creates clearer pathways from homelessness to stable, long-term housing outcomes for children and their families. 

The strategy is built around four pillars: 

• Homelessness prevention: Helping families stay housed by providing early supports, such as emergency financial assistance, and help understanding legal and tenant rights 
• Housing-focused Family Transitional Housing System: Treating emergency and transitional housing as temporary while providing case-management support to help families find secure long-term housing as quickly as possible
• More housing options for families: Establishing and strengthening pathways from homelessness into more stable, long-term housing, including social housing, portable housing benefits, and family-sized affordable units
• Enhanced system coordination: Improving how housing, health, gender-based violence, settlement and community services work together, so families face fewer gaps as they move toward stable housing 

The strategy is a cost-effective approach that reduces reliance on hotels and motels and shortens stays. In 2025, the City spent $29.3 million on hotel and motel placements for families experiencing homelessness. The new strategy will support families while relieving pressure on municipal finances. 

As an additional step to help move families along the pathway to housing, the City has set a new target: 20 per cent of new City‑funded affordable housing units with two or more bedrooms will be offered first to families experiencing homelessness. 

The Committee approved updates to the City’s local priority rules for access to rent-geared-to-income housing. This type of housing is subsidized, where rent is based on household income, making it one of the City’s most affordable housing options. More than 16,000 households are currently on the waiting list, with an average wait time of five to eight years.  

The changes approved today focus on the rules that determine which households receive priority over others on the waitlist. The City continues to prioritize households experiencing homelessness, adding clarity to the eligibility rule for households experiencing homelessness. There is also stronger support for market-rent tenants in social housing who face a sudden loss of income.  

Rules have also been updated so the City uses the same unit selection process for households living in units that are larger than they need and for households with a local priority access status. This does not include households experiencing homelessness. 

The changes recommended today are based on feedback from the housing sector and reflect lessons learned since the rules were last updated in 2017.   

City Council will consider the recommendations from today’s meeting on Wednesday, May 13.