Ottawa must invest in housing loss prevention and permanent housing

Submission to Ottawa City Council's Community Services Committee about the update on Ottawa’s Integrated Transition to Housing Strategy (ITHS).

The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa recently wrote to Ottawa City Council's Community Services Committee about the update on Ottawa’s Integrated Transition to Housing Strategy (ITHS).

We urge Council to prioritize investments into housing loss prevention and permanent housing solutions, rather than short-term shelter responses.

Ottawa has made some commendable strides over the past year with the ITHS, expanding the number of supportive housing units by 177 and implementing the Rapid Rehousing Initiative and housing 360 clients. These initiatives reduce time spent in shelter, address barriers to housing, add to the stock of permanent affordable housing, and increase the likelihood of successful tenancies with permanent onsite support available.

However, the addition of 423 new shelter and transitional housing beds and 365 beds in the Physical Distancing Centres to increase capacity through the winter months is a short term fix that fails to meet the needs of vulnerable individuals.

Expanding shelter capacity is like managing a flood with a bucket rather than turning the water off at the source.

The need continues to rise. Over the past year, Ottawa has seen a staggering 360% increase in newcomers seeking shelter, the majority of whom simply need an affordable place to live.

Alarmingly, 10% of shelter clients are gainfully employed yet struggle to afford rent. While renovictions continue to deplete Ottawa’s private market low-end rental housing stock faster than it can be replenished, many individuals who would otherwise be stably and affordably housed have no options but shelters.

Focusing instead on long-term solutions to prevent homelessness will ease the influx of new shelter clients, and scaling up affordable and supportive housing in Ottawa will reduce demand for something that is a very expensive stop gap.

There are promising local examples of a better way forward.

Last year, as part of the Rapid Rehousing Initiative, with funding from the City of Ottawa, the Alliance to End Homelessness led the pilot of an Enhanced Housing Allowance and facilitated stable housing for 161 individuals who previously relied on PD-EOCs (Physical Distancing - Emergency Overflow Centres) through an enhanced rent subsidy. This represents almost half of all PD-EOC clients housed over the last year, demonstrating how rent subsidies set at rates that match rents available in the private market are a fast and effective way to secure housing for those in need.

Currently, the Alliance is collaborating with Ottawa’s Housing and Homelessness Services and local shelters on a Shelter Diversion Pilot aimed at reducing the number of new people entering the shelter system. Diversion intercepts people seeking entry into shelter by helping them find safe options in their community or network to avoid entry into the shelter in the first place. With our existing support systems operating in a perpetual state of crisis-management, a reduction of shelter inflow can allow shelters to take a breath and pivot to providing housing-focused supports and working with individuals with more complex health and social needs to access the support they need.

Committee and Council members may recall that the Alliance’s Starts With Home campaign identifies solutions to stop the loss of affordable housing; create more affordable housing, and preserve the quality of existing affordable housing. In our forthcoming Stop the Loss report to be released this fall, the Alliance will recommend actions to prevent further displacement by simply keeping people in their homes. Stop the Loss focuses on acquiring and preserving permanently affordable non-profit housing, addressing excessive rent hikes upon turnover, and promoting protective anti-renoviction bylaws.

In order to prevent, reduce and end homelessness, we must address homelessness at its roots rather than managing its consequences. It’s time to turn the water off. I urge this Committee to prioritize investments in proactive measures that safeguard affordable housing, keep people in their homes, and prevent homelessness before it begins.

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Address: PO Box 22021, Ottawa, ON K1V 0W2

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