[homeles_ot-l] Alliance Welcomes New Tools within Provincial Long-Term Affordable Strategy and Calls for Quick Action

[Mike Bulthuis]

*Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa Welcomes New Tools within Provincial
Long-Term Affordable Strategy and Calls for Quick Action*



Monday, March 14, 2016 – Ottawa’s Alliance to End Homelessness welcomes the
Province of Ontario’srenewed Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy
<https://news.ontario.ca/mah/en/2016/03/ontario-transforming-housing-and-homelessness-system.html>
– and is calling for quick action to introduce important new tools
announced this morning. These tools will help to increase the availability
of affordable housing and to reduce homelessness in Ottawa.

“Today’s announcement includes welcome news that Ontario is moving forward
with proposed legislation enabling municipalities, including the City of
Ottawa, to require inclusion of affordable housing within new residential
developments,” notes Mike Bulthuis, Executive Director, Alliance to End
Homelessness. “This is something for which the Alliance and our members
have been advocating for years. We look forward to working with the City of
Ottawa, the Province of Ontario and private sector partners to develop a
framework that addresses local housing needs, responds to Ottawa’s housing
market and builds inclusive, mixed-income neighbourhoods for all.”

In addition to inclusionary zoning, the strategy announced today includes a
number of tools – including new portable housing benefits and housing
allowances; operational and capital funding for supportive housing;
enhancements to homelessness funding through the Community Homelessness
Prevention Initiative (CHPI); and support for innovative approaches. “With
new investment expected through the federal budget to be tabled on March
22, we are pleased to hear Ontario Minister Ted McMeekin note that
initiatives within the provincial strategy can each be scaled up in
partnership with federal investments,” notes Christine MacIntosh, Chair,
Alliance to End Homelessness.

The strategy will move us forward if backed by meaningful investment and
effective legislation. Last year, in response to a report commissioned by
the Province, the government committed to prioritizing Aboriginal, youth
and chronic homelessness, as well as homelessness following stays in
provincial hospital and jails. The Alliance welcomes news of the
development of an Indigenous Housing Strategy, to be developed in
partnership with Indigenous communities – including those here in Ottawa.

While welcoming modest increases to the Ontario Works and Ontario
Disability Support programs in the 2016 provincial budget, the Alliance
echoes the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, recommending that “social assistance rates [be] increased in all
provinces [including Ontario] to levels that allow a decent living for
beneficiaries and their families so as to ensure an effective income safety
net.” Moving forward, in addition to a basic income pilot announced in the
Provincial budget in 2016, meaningful increases to social assistance need
to be regarded as a core component of a strategy to improve housing
outcomes.

In 2014, 6,520 different individuals in Ottawa stayed in an emergency
shelter at some point during the year, while the average length of stay
increased from 73 days (in 2013) to 77 days (in 2014), pointing to an acute
shortage of affordable housing options.  Additionally, many families and
individuals, including youth, experience homelessness without accessing
shelters, staying with family and friends while not having a home of their
own. Ontario’s strategy, including efforts to enumerate the homeless
population, needs to address the fullness of homelessness and housing
instability.



In Ottawa, over 10,000 households are on Ottawa’s wait list for affordable
housing, and 1/5 of all renters are spending more than 50% of their income
on rent and utilities. Now is the time to ensure that these households, and
the many across Ontario, are able to find affordable housing and the
supports they need to live independently and successfully.



*The Alliance to End Homelessness is a non-partisan, non-profit
organization working in partnership in Ottawa to inspire local action, to
generate knowledge and to inform our community-wide effort to achieve an
end to homelessness in our community. We represent over 50 Ottawa-based
service providing organizations working to strengthen residents’ housing
outcomes. Together, our vision is of an inclusive community, where everyone
has an affordable, appropriate home. *


- 30 -

-- 
*Mike Bulthuis*
Executive Director

*Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa*
171 George Street, Ottawa ON K1N 5W5
Office: 613-241-1573 x 314
Mobile: 613-222-9831
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