On November 26, 2024, we presented to the City of Ottawa's Community Services Committee about the City's 2025 budget.
When more and more people in Ottawa and beyond are struggling to meet their basic needs, it's time to invest in prevention.
You can read our full remarks below:
I’m here today representing over 70 members of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, including affordable and supportive housing providers and developers, transitional housing and emergency shelter operators, day programs and support services, housing loss prevention and housing search agencies, community health and resource centres, employment services, food banks, and more.
I’d like to start by thanking City staff and members of Council for your commitment to working in partnership and collaboration with us. This work is hard, and we appreciate your support in tackling the issues of housing unaffordability and homelessness, along with connected issues of poverty, hunger, health, mental health and substance use.
We know the need. Almost one quarter of renter households in Ottawa are paying more than they can afford. 2023 marked the highest numbers on record in Ottawa’s shelter system, and an estimated 10% of people in shelters are employed but just can’t find a home they can afford. We’re waiting to hear the results of the Point in Time count that took place last month, but we know the numbers of people living in encampments is growing each month. It can take 4 to 8 years to get subsidized housing through the Housing Registry. Even for people with urgent medical priority status, the wait can be up to 2 years. One in four Ottawa households faced food insecurity in 2023, and the poverty rate, including child poverty, is on the rise.
We know the City can’t fix it alone. It will take a whole of government, and a whole of society, approach, to undo decades of policy and funding decisions that have brought us to where we are today. We commend the City for its strong advocacy to all levels of government for adequate funding and new tools.
Here at the local level, we also know we need to work strategically to make the best use of what we’ve got. We need a systems approach, with effective governance, data-driven decision-making, and system-wide coordination. I’m very excited about the new Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table, just launched this fall, and am looking forward to the steps we will be taking together, city and community, to create the best possible pathways from precarious housing or homelessness to permanent and successful housing. The Alliance will be acting as the Community Co-Chair, and I look forward to sharing more details with you in the new year as we get to work on the update to the City’s 10-year plan.
I’d like to spend a few moments talking about the new Provincial Homelessness Prevention Program funding, with over $120 million over 3 years. We often talk about the three parts of the housing system: prevention, emergency response, and permanent housing. With this new funding, and as we start to work on the 10 year plan update, there is an opportunity to develop a comprehensive prevention strategy.
Prevention is an intervention that provides support to people before a crisis occurs, aiming to reduce risks and prevent homelessness. It includes housing loss prevention tools that the City is already discussing or undertaking, like an acquisitions strategy and fund, a strong renoviction by-law, shelter diversion programs, and emergency financial support for rent arrears, utilities, food and transit.
Prevention work happens through front line organizations that meet people where they are, nurture relationships and build trust so that people feel comfortable accepting help. Prevention is critical to ensuring that people do not get stuck in the “emergency” part of the system, experiencing worse outcomes at the highest cost. Food banks do eviction prevention every time someone doesn’t have to choose between food or rent. The low income tax clinic program is an example of a great tool to put tax credits back into the pockets of people who need every penny to make ends meet.
CanadaHelps (2024) reported that 1 in 5 people living in Canada used charitable services to meet essential needs in 2023. Almost 7 in 10 (69%) said this was the first time they relied on charity. We’re seeing leaps in demand for services at the same time that pressures on operational costs are skyrocketing.
Providing stable, predictable and adequate operational funding to front line agencies and service providers allows us to continue the important work of prevention, and is a critical piece of a comprehensive homelessness prevention strategy.
Thank you for your time and attention today.
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