Calendar. Forums. Contact Us. Login.

Affordable Housing in Ottawa, Ontario: Part 4

Please note that some of the formatting of this document has been lost in posting it to the web. Our apologies for any confusion that may arise as a result of this.

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.

4.0 Conclusions

Through the composition of this case study on affordable housing in Ottawa, a number of considerations on affordability from a municipal perspective have become clear.

Although both administration and Council at The City of Calgary have recognized the importance of housing affordability in recent years, a sustained effort will be required, as demand appears to be escalating with no apparent end in sight. Thus, the commitment of a commensurate level of both capital and human resources to ensure that housing does, in fact, remain affordable will be essential.

Due to Calgary's relatively fortunate and enviable levels of affordability in past decades, there has not been a great emphasis placed on below-market housing. Calgary's past affordability can largely be attributed to an unconstrained land mass and relatively affordable surrounding agricultural lands to draw upon for growth.

There is, however, reason to believe that the affordability enjoyed in past decades may not be a given in the future. As a result of this dynamic, prompt action will be necessary to ensure that all levels of income have access to suitable housing at affordable levels.

As part of a comprehensive strategy to maintain and promote housing affordability, it may be necessary for The City of Calgary to go beyond its current capacity, which is somewhat constrained by enabling legislation at present. A comprehensive strategy is perhaps one of the greatest strengths of the Ottawa strategy in support of affordable housing. Arising from an acute need, the City of Ottawa has engaged itself in an advocacy role in dealing with senior levels of government. The hope is that the City can garner support and authority from senior levels of government for programs that can be used to target affordability.

Calgary's predominant belief in the market's ability to ensure a competitive market that will create housing for all income levels and satisfy demand may no longer be realistic. As a result, the assertion that the development industry or current landowners would find new opportunities highly interventionist and that the desired policy is not possible under current enabling legislation is no longer satisfactory. Therefore, it is recommended that The City of Calgary pursue an advocacy role with the Provincial Government in the ability to provide for:

• Inclusionary zoning
• Secondary dwelling units, specifically with respect to the Alberta Building Code and Alberta Fire Code
• Density bonusing and the addition of affordable housing as a planning objective in the Municipal Government Act
• Condominium conversion with specific attention given to Alberta's Condominium Property Act, and
• Restricting the demolition of affordable housing, especially in key areas. Further, there are a number of areas where The City of Calgary can help provide for the creation or retention of affordable housing with no amendment to provincial legislation. Areas to be considered for review include:
• Acknowledging housing affordability as a key policy area in the Municipal Development Plan, Land Use Bylaw, and future corporate strategic studies and plans
• Consideration of affordable rental housing as a municipal facility, thus benefiting from this status
• Cash-in-lieu of parking policy, especially in key areas such as Transit Oriented Developments and inner city neighbourhoods
• Restricting the practice of down-zoning from medium/high density to lower densities, especially in areas which are suitable for or are known to provide affordable housing, and
• A wholesale consideration of alternate development standards that can significantly reduce capital infrastructure expenditures by both The City and developers.

Having said that, The City of Calgary is currently doing well in some areas with respect to affordability and is encouraged to continue and expand its capacity where possible. The best example of this is with respect to land acquisition and provisioning for servicing. The City of Calgary should continue with its current mandate to maintain a 30-year land supply, and a 5-year supply of serviced lots, as this is an obvious strength.

This case study suggests that in order to make a truly significant impact on affordable rental and owned housing, a new and inspired approach is required by Canadian cities.

This does not mean reformulating affordable housing policies, which support mandatory requirements for developers that are difficult to enforce, especially in non-charter cities such as Ottawa and Calgary. Policy creation and amendments illustrate The City of Calgary's commitment to supporting rather than mandating affordable housing, which it believes will be more effective than mandatory requirements over the long term.

Adopted and implemented independently, the initiatives described above can result in incremental improvements to housing affordability. Employed comprehensively, the initiatives can lead to wholesale and meaningful results in the provision of affordable home ownership and affordable rental housing in Calgary.

Although a fiscal imbalance among the various levels of government has considerably restricted Ottawa's ability to provide affordable housing, a new federal-provincial agreement could considerably alter this reality. As such, it is suggested that Calgary's Affordable Housing Implementation Team would be well-served to follow up on many of these initiatives in due course, as policy implementation occurs and staff has reviewed its relative success.

---

Previous -- Next