Ottawa received a meager increase of 0.4% ($845k) of the $202M provincial funding for homelessness prevention.
Ottawa declared a homelessness emergency over 3 years ago and the situation has worsened, with double the number of people sleeping outside and all shelters over 100% capacity.
Ottawa’s Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) faces unique challenges with a significant catchment area, a large increase in asylum seekers, and a significant number of Indigenous clients.
Massive HPP underfunding will result in a $37M funding gap for Ottawa, canceling 54 supportive housing projects and 570-850 new affordable units per year.
Loss of development charges for municipalities under Bill 23 exacerbates the situation.
We urge the provincial government to reserve this decision and increase Ottawa’s HPP by $18-20M, as Ontario ended the last fiscal year with a $2.1B surplus.