Affordable Housing in Ottawa, Ontario: Part 2

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Revised 2005 November 8
COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD SERVICES
SOCIAL RESEARCH UNIT
Affordable Housing in Ottawa, Ontario: A Case Study of Land Use Policy and Transferability
Prepared for the Affordable Housing Implementation Team by Greg Sauer 1
Planning Student, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary
© 2005 The City of Calgary, Community and Neighbourhood Services, Social Research Unit

1 The opinions expressed in this paper are strictly those of the author and not The City of Calgary. The information contained in this report has not been verified by The City of Calgary.

2.0 City of Ottawa--Affordable Housing Strategy

The City of Ottawa was thrust into a role of affordable housing administrator through the passage of the Social Housing Reform Act (2000), which effectively transferred all responsibility for affordable housing from the Province to the City. This reform further hampered housing affordability, which had been in decline since the 1994 federal program cuts.

In response to these new realities, the Council of the Region of Ottawa-Carleton approved the Community Action Plan to prevent and End Homelessness (City of Ottawa, 2005a). As part of the City's Action Plan, a Task Force sponsored by the Mayor was created in 2001, and became known as the Mayors Task Force on Public/Private Partnerships for Affordable Housing. Task Force members were individually selected based upon merit and specific related experiences, with members drawn from backgrounds such as residential development, financial services, real estate, law, architecture, social housing providers, homelessness alliances, and City Council. The Task Force was given a mandate to consider the problems being faced by the Region with respect to affordable housing and, specifically, to find ways to reduce waiting lists, stimulate the production of affordable housing, engage the private sector, and identify and implement public/private partnerships (City of Ottawa, 2005a).

Further to the formation of the Mayor's Task Force, City Council approved an Affordable Housing Strategy in addition to an implementation plan for recommendations made by the Mayor's Task Force in February of 2002. It was hoped that these strategies and plans would be able to bridge the gap, with an end result being increased housing affordability.

One of the most significant recommendations put forward by the Affordable Housing Strategy was the need to fundamentally support affordable housing. It was believed that a new Official Plan would include policies that supported the direction of the Strategy. In addition, the Affordable Housing Strategy would need to be shored up by subordinate documents such as the land use bylaw. Given that the City of Ottawa was in the process of a Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw review, the Affordable Housing Strategy suggested that "consideration be given to establishing zoning regulations that would better support the development of affordable housing" (City of Ottawa, 2004).

In 2003, City Council adopted Ottawa's Official Plan, Ottawa 2020, with a number of changes from past Official Plans to support housing affordability. Since the passing of the Official Plan, a 17 member Affordable Housing Working Group comprised equally of representatives from the development industry and housing groups was established. This Working Group, co-chaired by senior administration, continues to deal with a range of issues related to affordable housing in Ottawa.

The collection of measures arising from the Mayor's Task Force, the Affordable Housing Strategy, and the Affordable Housing Working Group have led to a comprehensive approach to providing affordable housing in Ottawa. Through the collaborative efforts of these groups and individuals, a number of policy changes have been created and implemented in the City of Ottawa, albeit with varying degrees of success. It is these policy measures that are discussed and considered for their transferability to the Calgary and Alberta context for their potential to augment The City of Calgary's current affordable housing strategy.

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