Approves Family Homelessness Strategy - Comité des services communautaires — 2026/04/28

The committee received a major presentation on Ottawa’s new Family Homelessness Strategy, which staff described as “a very deliberate and highly collaborative approach” designed to help families “more rapidly exit homelessness into permanent housing.” The discussion focused on system pressure that has left “503 children under the age of six…living in hotels and motel right now,” as Councillor Johnson put it, and on the financial strain of overflow placements. Committee members carried the strategy’s recommendations, including changes to local priority rules, and also approved extending the alcohol-in-parks pilot for another year and directing staff to build a standardized encampment data reporting framework with a public-facing dashboard.

Topics Discussed

FAMILY HOMELESSNESS CRISIS: Staff framed the strategy around moving families out of shelter faster and reducing reliance on overflow sites. Clara said the strategy’s “key goal here is to assist families to more rapidly exit homelessness into permanent housing.” Staff also pointed to system flow as the main driver of nightly shelter numbers, with Kale saying: “The primary driver for this increase in the number of people accessing the system each night is due to this 41% decrease in outflow from the system.” Councillor Johnson highlighted the impact on young children: “503 children under the age of six are living in hotels and motel right now…It’s just it’s not okay.”

CAPACITY AND OVERFLOW LIMITS: Staff warned the city cannot sustain overflow reliance indefinitely. One staff member told the committee: “We do not have the capacity or funding…to be able to accommodate in this long term,” referencing ongoing pressure on overflow sites.

SYSTEMIC GAPS IN NEWCOMER SUPPORT: Staff said newcomers make up most families in the shelter system. A staff member stated: “76% of the families in our system are newcomers to Canada and that’s really defined within the last 10 years.” The committee also heard that family homelessness intersects with other risks, including gender-based violence; one speaker noted findings that “women are staying in violent relationships because they have no place to go because they’re scared of a lack of housing.”

ONE-OFFER HOUSING POLICY AND FUNDING RISK: The committee discussed the financial uncertainty of keeping families housed through subsidies if senior-government funding ends. A staff member described the city’s stopgap funding and the looming question: “We’ve been using $7.1 million from municipal spending to fill the gap and we expect this to be committed by Q3 2026. So what do we do after that?”

AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRIORITY FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES: The committee carried changes intended to prioritize housing outcomes for families experiencing homelessness. Staff emphasized the scale of need among families, noting: “We have 50% of the 700 households, 50% of those people are children. So we’re going to take this on very seriously.”

ALCOHOL-IN-PARKS PILOT AND INSURANCE CONCERNS: The committee extended the alcohol consumption in parks pilot program for another year. In discussion of broader alcohol policy changes, staff flagged a risk for “bring your own liquor” events, saying insurance may be difficult because “there is essentially no control of the level of alcohol somebody can consume…which increases the risk.”

ENCAMPMENT DATA REPORTING: Committee members approved a direction to standardize encampment data reporting and create a public-facing dashboard. Councillor King’s motion cited staff’s advice that “the administrative effort required to manually compile and distribute encampment data limits the frequency of reporting and creates ongoing reliance on ad hoc requests.”

Motions

• Approved: Minutes from February 24, 2026 and joint committee minutes from March 24, 2026
• Carried: Family Homelessness Strategy presentation and recommendations
• Carried: Changes to Local Priority Rules under the Housing Services Act (Item 5.2) — removing homeless status for applicants staying temporarily with friends or family
• Carried: Extension of alcohol consumption in parks pilot program for another year
• Passed: Notice of Motion directing staff to develop standardized encampment data reporting framework with public-facing dashboard, to report back by Q4 2026

Attendees

• Councillor Troster
• Councillor Johnson
• Councillor Bradley
• Councillor Kavanagh
• Councillor King
• Councillor Plante
• Mayor (reference made to youth homelessness commitment)
• Deputy Mayor (not specifically named in discussion)

Regrets: Councillor Low