Ottawa not on track to meet annual provincial housing target requirements: Report

The City of Ottawa has reached a mere 22 per cent of its annual housing target as of August, a new progress report has determined.

The city would need to reach 80 per cent this target by the end of the year to ensure funding through the province’s Building Faster Fund.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) set an annual target of 12,583 new dwellings in 2024 for the municipality. According to the MMAH’s housing tracker, as of Aug. 25, the number of dwellings in progress is 2,774 — just 22 per cent of the target.

These units count towards the larger goal of constructing 151,000 new homes by 2031.

Despite falling behind on its annual target, housing starts are up 34 per cent between January and March. Year-over-year, Q2 permits are up 233.5 per cent. Between Q2 last year and Q2 this year, housing starts are down 14.1 per cent.

The city also qualifies for funding under the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). In July 2023, the federal government approved the city’s action plan, leaving it eligible for up to over $176 million until the end of 2026. The contribution agreement includes a growth target of over 37,500 new dwellings through
building permit issuance over the next three years.

“Council is giving builders the permissions like re-zonings they want but they’ve only pulled permits on 16 per cent of those units since this tracking began in January 2023,” Ottawa City Councillor Jeff Leiper posted on X following the meeting. “We need to hope that signals like reduced inflation and interest rates spur builders to build.”

At the same meeting, the committee approved a zoning amendment to facilitate the development of low-rise homes in Orléans, west of Provence Avenue.

The municipality obtained the site through a land exchange agreement in 2022. The amendment will dedicate the Nantes Woods woodlot lands to the City and allow the completion of the community east of the lands.

It aims to keep Nantes Woods natural and to build nature trails that link to the current trail system.