Federal-municipal housing agreement gets first passes in Ottawa
Posted Apr 13, 2026 03:31:07 PM.
Last Updated Apr 13, 2026 03:31:16 PM.
The Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committee approved a first-of-its-kind partnership between the City of Ottawa and the federal government.
In December, Prime Minister Mark Carney joined Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at the last Mayor’s Breakfast of the year and signed a multi-billion-dollar housing agreement that would bring thousands of affordable homes to the nation’s capital. The partnership is through Build Canada Homes, a new program the upper-tiered government created to address the country’s growing affordability and homelessness crisis.
Last week, the blueprints made it past two committee levels in Ottawa, being pushed to city council for the final decision on April 22.
In a press release, the city released further details about the partnership and its promise to focus on affordable units and supportive housing.
The developments would be on surplus federal lands and will provide market-rate housing, affordable units and “deeply affordable” homes. The people with the lowest incomes (under $37,128 a year) could rent a one-bedroom unit for as low as $491 per month, with homes with more than four bedrooms being as affordable as $1,130.
It comes as the latest figures from the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa note that the Centralized Wait List, which is for homes deemed affordable, grew to 15,140 in 2024, with only 8 per cent of people making it off the list that year.
Ottawa defines affordable as 30 per cent of the household income should be used on housing.
Of the 2,000 units set to be on surplus lands, with 60 per cent being at market rates, and a target of 800 at affordable rates for moderate-income households and below. Within that, about 200 are set to be “deeply affordable” for those of the lowest-income bracket.
“Deep affordability for the lowest-income households is typically only possible with rent supplements, making it difficult to achieve this level of affordability under standard conditions,” the press release reads.
Both the federal and municipal governments are expected to contribute significantly in the partnership, with the city seeing $150 million for at least 1,000 units. On Ottawa’s part, it is supposed to waive fees, charges and generally make building less expensive. According to the release this contribution is being valued at $200 to $245 million.
Staff said in a report that the partnership is very impactful for the city especially during periods of economic uncertainty.
“By advancing projects that are less sensitive to short-term market fluctuations, the Public Sector can help stabilize housing supply, spur construction activity, preserve skilled trades capacity, maintain demand across local supply chains, and prevent deeper supply shortfalls that would otherwise exacerbate affordability challenges once economic conditions improve,” it reads.
