Ottawa councillors approved an accelerated plan to allow shelters in all areas of the city, allowing such use months ahead of wider zoning changes.
The city’s Planning and Housing Committee approved a motion Feb. 6 by Kitchissipi Coun. and Committee chair Jeff Leiper, which would amend the current zoning bylaw. Currently, shelters are not permitted in residential and rural zones.
The move would accelerate a process already underway, but Leiper said the change would bring zoning rules and the official plan into alignment as soon as possible.
“Our Official Plan says that shelter use will be permitted in all our zones and until we change the comprehensive zoning bylaw, I’m worried about a disconnect between what the current zoning in our city says versus what the Official Plan says,” said Leiper during the meeting.
The city’s new Comprehensive Zoning By-law will allow shelters in all zones, but that change is not likely to be happen until late 2025 at the earliest.
Leiper’s motion passed 10-1, with Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo casting the lone vote against.
Lo had previously proposed two motions to amend Leiper’s bill. The first motion was to exempt non-downtown wards from the bill. The second sought to exempt 1005/1045 Greenbank Rd. and 3311 Woodroffe Ave. from the bill. Neither motion passed, with Lo being the only supporter of both.
Supporters of the amendment argue that increasing shelter accessibility across the city is crucial in addressing Ottawa’s homelessness crisis, especially as demand or emergency housing continues to rise. They emphasize that the move aligns with the city’s broader goals of tackling housing insecurity and providing more equitable services.
The city of Ottawa says that amending the bylaw would make the City better placed to take advantage of potential federal and provincial funding that might be offered in 2025 to address the housing and homelessness emergency.
“People are dying. This is a really important first step,” said Kaite Burkholder Harris, Alliance to End Homelessness executive director. “This motion addresses this barrier for many in our community who are struggling to find affordable housing and support,” she told the committee.
Leiper said that because of the situation between the United States and Canada, many people could be moving from across the border.
“We’re going to have to be nimble over the next year and ensuring that our zoning is not a hurdle to putting a new shelter in is going to be critical,” he said.
Lo said he felt the motion would expand the shelter system, but Leiper pointed out that what he is proposing is already part of the Official Plan and would be brought into effect eventually.
“It’s proposing to accelerate because we’re in a housing emergency and 11 months are going to pass before we pass our official plan said we’re going to do this isn’t something new. I’m proposing to accelerate something we are going to do anyway because our city is in a housing crisis,” said Leiper.
This vote comes amid a colder-than-average winter with many sleeping on the streets. According to Burkholder Harris, the change will help alleviate the number of people with housing and relieve the pressure on shelters. But she emphasized that shelters are just a stop-gap measure.
“We have got to stop building shelter beds,” she said. “We’re going to see when we put the money in housing, we start to turn the ship around.”
The motion must be approved by City Council on Feb. 12.
