{"id":871142,"date":"2025-09-07T01:12:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T06:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/07\/homelessness-in-ottawa-has-reached-a-record-high-what-can-be-done-about-it\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T01:12:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T06:12:37","slug":"homelessness-in-ottawa-has-reached-a-record-high-what-can-be-done-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/07\/homelessness-in-ottawa-has-reached-a-record-high-what-can-be-done-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Homelessness in Ottawa has reached a record high. What can be done about it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bitcoins <\/p>\n<div>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p><h3>Racialized, immigrant homeless populations increasing<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>The report also found that racialized and immigrant populations in Ottawa were increasingly at risk for homelessness.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>Racialized people represented more than 56 per cent of the PiT Count in 2024, an increase from 48.1 per cent in 2018.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>This was high compared with their non-racialized peers, who represented 29.5 per cent of the PiT Count in 2024, a decrease from 47.6 per cent in 2018.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p data-async>Around 42 per cent of the total homeless population also identified as an <a data-evt-val=\"{\"control_fields\": {\"mparticle\": {\"keys\": {\"click_source_type\": \"click_source_type\", \"anchor_text\": \"anchor_text\", \"target_url\": \"target_url\", \"layout_section\": \"layout_section\"}, \"mp_event_type\": \"Navigation\", \"extra_keys\": [\"click_vertical_position_percentage\", \"click_vertical_position_pixels\"]}}, \"click_source_type\": \"in-page link\", \"anchor_text\": \"immigrant, refugee or a refugee claimant\", \"target_url\": \"https:\/\/ottawacitizen.com\/news\/local-news\/ottawa-sprung-structures-asylum-seekers-housing\", \"layout_section\": \"in-page-link\"}\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-evt=\"click\" data-evt-typ=\"click\" href=\"https:\/\/ottawacitizen.com\/news\/local-news\/ottawa-sprung-structures-asylum-seekers-housing\" target=\"_blank\">immigrant, refugee or a refugee claimant<\/a>, due to a \u201csubstantial influx\u201d of newcomers, asylum seekers and refugee claimants in 2023, the city said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile newcomers face many of the same affordability pressures as other low-income renters, they also navigate other systemic barriers that increase the rate at which they enter homelessness and limit pathways to exiting homelessness,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProcessing times for refugee claims have lengthened in recent years \u2014 rising from an average of 22 months in early 2023 to 44 months by late 2024 \u2014 leaving many claimants in legal and financial uncertainty for long periods of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p><h3>Housing affordability continues to fuel crisis<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>When it came to causes of the issue, the report pointed to skyrocketing housing costs in Ottawa.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>The report found that the city\u2019s average monthly rent increased at a similar rate from $1,045 to $1,691 per month in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>Ottawa also saw a decline in rent prices across all bedroom types between 2024 and 2025, similar to trends in Vancouver and Toronto.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTogether, these rental trends indicate a market shift in Ottawa, where affordability challenges persist despite declining prices. While rents have decreased, the overall market remains constrained, affecting accessibility across different income levels,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>Ottawa households have also been spending more of their paycheques towards rent. The proportion of Ottawa households paying $2,000 or more per month on rent more than tripled from 2006 to 2021 (8.1 per cent in 2006 to 28 per cent in 2021).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis suggests that many households may be paying more because they have no other viable options, rather than because they are opting for higher-cost housing,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p><h3>More units at all price points needed, says City of Ottawa<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>The report said Ottawa needs an additional 128,938 units by 2035 to ensure that the housing supply is sufficient to meet growth, address existing shortages and maintain market stability.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>This will mean building at least 9,210 per year to meet the minimum housing target. The city averaged just 8,073 new units between 2021 and 2024.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>The city also said 28 per cent those new units should be geared towards low-income earners ($822 to $2,056 monthly) while 24 per cent and 18 per cent should be geared for those making a median income ($3,290 to $4,935 monthly) and moderate income ($2,056 to $3,290 per month), respectively.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p> Paula Tran <a href=\"https:\/\/ottawacitizen.com\/news\/local-news\/ottawa-affordable-housing-homelessness\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article content Racialized, immigrant homeless populations increasing Article content The report also found that racialized and immigrant populations in Ottawa were increasingly at risk for homelessness. Article content Racialized people represented more than 56 per cent of the PiT Count in 2024, an increase from 48.1 per cent in 2018. Article content This was high<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":871143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29878,23413],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-871142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-homelessness","category-ottawa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}