Citywide Rally for Affordable Housing

Every person deserves a safe, stable, long-term and deeply affordable place to live. With more than 45,000 low-income Ottawa households paying more than 30 percent of their income on rent (2016 Census)​ and a pressing emergency in family homelessness, the crisis in our city has only deepened. 

With a newly elected city council and a draft budget to be tabled on February 6, city councillors have an opportunity to work with organizations and local residents to ensure that tenants living on low income and Ottawa’s most vulnerable residents get the support they need.

So that people can access and maintain housing that is affordable for their income, 64 organizations, networks and coalitions from across Ottawa have joined together to make four asks of Ottawa City Council to address our city’s affordable housing crisis.

• Invest at least $12 million, over and above federal and provincial grants, in the 2019 City Budget. This could double the number of new affordable homes supported by the City and leverage at least $12 million more from other sources.
• Pass a strong citywide inclusionary zoning by-law that ensures 25% of new development is dedicated to affordable housing and places a special emphasis on deeply affordable housing within 1 km of rapid transit stations
• Ensure that all available government-owned land within 1 km of current & future rapid transit stations is used for non-profit and co-op housing.
• Create a 2019-2022 Term of Council Priority that integrates transit and planning, with clear, affordable housing targets.

With these four asks, 64 organizations are collectively calling on the City to seriously commit to tackling our affordable housing crisis. As part of our campaign, we invite you to attend our citywide rally for affordable housing happening right before City Council meets to discuss its draft budget for 2019. There is power in numbers, and together we can influence City Hall to prioritize more money for affordable housing in this year’s budget. RSVP to show your support!

The organizations, coalitions and networks co-organizing this rally include the Ottawa Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, City for All Women Initiative (CAWI), Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (CCOC), Healthy Transportation Coalition, Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres (CCHRC), Ottawa District Labour Council (ODLC) and Making Voices Count (MVC), and are supported by 56 other organizations who have endorsed the campaign.