Mayor says big federal housing deal just needs 'finishing touches'

Ottawa's mayor is showing more confidence than ever that the city is on the cusp of getting millions in federal money to build housing.

In an interview with CBC News on Tuesday, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said his office has been in regular contact with the federal government over Ottawa's housing accelerator fund application.

He said he's now optimistic those efforts will bear fruit "in the days ahead," and said there could be an announcement "in the near future."

"It's not a negotiation around what the City of Ottawa needs to do anymore," Sutcliffe said. "It's more just putting the finishing touches on the agreement itself and how we'll use the funds and how much we'll receive in funding."

Federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser has repeatedly said cities need to be ambitious to get their share of the cash. He's been pushing them to relax rules that get in the way of building new homes. For some cities, that's meant changing zoning bylaws to allow up to four units on every lot.

Late last month, Ottawa city councillors voted to explore that option through an ongoing review of the zoning bylaw. They also voted to retain higher height limits imposed by the province when given the choice to let them lapse.

'Closer to the finish line'

Sutcliffe said Ottawa is now "closer to the finish line" than it was just weeks ago, and said the housing accelerator money could be a significant source of funding for Ottawa.

City staff have estimated a successful application could yield as much as $150 million to support building about 7,000 units.

"I think we've made a good case to the federal government and we've continued the conversation, and it's all been very productive and headed in the right direction," Sutcliffe said.

"I feel like we've done our share and that now it's just a matter of working out the finer details of what the program could do to benefit Ottawa."

Micaal Ahmed, communications manager in Fraser's office, agreed that a decision could come in the near future, though he wouldn't pin it down any more precisely. He said Ottawa's application is still under review.

The city submitted the application in June. It proposed using the money for affordable housing incentives and a pilot program to facilitate office conversions, among other programs.

Advocates say Ottawa is facing an unprecedented homelessness crisis. 'Everyone is very, very worried that we are going to see someone freeze to death in the winter,' said Kaite Burkholder Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness. (Andrew Lee/CBC)

Need for money 'extremely pressing'

Kaite Burkholder Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness, said most of the money is expected to support non-profit housing projects that are ready for construction, but are just waiting for capital funding.

"The housing accelerator fund is the most amount of money that any city will receive from the federal government in decades, so it's a pretty big deal," she said.

"We're in a good position, because we can press go as soon as we have that money."

She said the need for that funding is "extremely pressing" for Ottawa, and permanent housing is the only sustainable solution to turn around what's become a homelessness crisis of unparalleled proportions.

"Right now our shelter system is the most overcapacity that it's ever been," said Burkholder Harris. "We've never had a winter this bad in the City of Ottawa in terms of how much demand is on our shelter system, and I think everyone is very, very worried that we are going to see someone freeze to death in the winter."

According to data from the city's manager of homelessness programs and shelters, Kale Brown, 1,065 people were staying in Ottawa's shelter system for single people as of Dec. 3. Capacity is currently 1,183. Those figures include makeshift shelters operated by the city.

Staff opened a third such facility at Heron Road Community Centre late last month. It now has 130 beds, and the city has already placed bunk beds in all three centres to follow up on council motions that asked staff to brace for an expected winter rush.