Tammy Brown recently transitioned from a women’s shelter to her own apartment after leaving a domestic violence situation. The rent is $1,550 per month, which is affordable for her, thanks to government assistance.
Rent for the one-bedroom apartment in Vanier is also affordable because in 2023, the property was acquired by Ottawa Community Land Trust, a non-profit organization that aims to keep rent affordable in perpetuity.
“In general, the rental market is too much,” said Brown, 34. “It is too hard to find something at a reasonable price.”
Brown’s support worker from the Wabano Centre helped her find the apartment. However, this situation is all too common in a city where rent averages around $2,200 and new affordable housing is rarely added to the inventory.
The situation is perhaps more acute in Vanier, because as one of Ottawa’s oldest and least heterogeneous neighbourhoods, it has become ripe for redevelopment, for better or worse.
With many older homes requiring renovations, developers have been snatching up these structures to tear them down to erect new homes or they upgrade existing structures. But these “renovictions” have been putting already vulnerable people in precarious positions when they face rent increases, or are seeking new housing, like Brown.
“A lot of people are nervous because there is a lot of gentrification,” said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante. “We have a lot of three-story walk-ups that were in a family for 40 years, now they are getting sold and companies are buying them up, then people’s rents will double overnight, and they can’t afford to be in the neighbourhood anymore.”
In response, the councillor devised a strategy that utilized “Section 37” capital — a fund to which developers contribute when a zoning by-law amendment is implemented — to help the Ottawa Community Land Trust purchase the building on Brant Street.
“We helped with the down payment, and then they purchased a building to save 10 units,” Plante says. As a result, residents did not have to leave their homes, and if they were searching for an apartment, the rent was affordable.
“We need to do more of these. Prevention is the best way to prevent homelessness,” said Plante. The City of Ottawa is also currently working on a bylaw to govern renovictions.
Preserving affordable housing
The Ottawa Community Land Trust works to preserve and increase affordable housing in the city in three ways: acquiring residential rental properties and turning them into non-profit affordable housing; securing vacant land for future affordable housing development; and working with other local groups with the same mission.
The model is gaining traction in other communities, with approximately 50 other land trusts across the country. Mike Bulthuis, executive director of the organization, said the blueprint was created due to the loss of affordable housing across the city.
“These are units that are primarily owned within the private market, but because of things like rent control over many years, events have maintained or attained a level of affordability that the tenants need,” said Bulthuis. “But often when these buildings are for sale or transferred to a new owner, we see a significant rise in rent levels where we see things like demolition or redevelopment.”
Bulthuis notes that between 2011 and 2021, Ottawa lost over 30,000 housing units that were renting for $1,000 or less per month.
According to the City of Ottawa’s Housing Needs Assessment released earlier this year, in 2024, there were over 15,000 households on Ottawa’s Centralized Waiting List. It also found that between 2014 and 2024, median monthly rent increased by 61.3 per cent from $992 to $1,600. Furthermore, the report states, “Ottawa is projected to require 128,938 new housing units by 2035. The report projects a need for 3,150 units of affordable community housing, 350 supportive housing units, 200 transitional housing spaces, and 7,000 housing-allowance subsidies.”
For organizations like OCLT, it is clearly an uphill battle, but the organization purchased its first home on Kirkwood Avenue and its second on Brant Street. There are so many renters but so few protected units, Bulthuis says. It also recently announced the acquisition of a 30-plus unit property with “below market averages”.
This means fewer renters will not live in precarious situations. Brown concurs that unmanageable rent is an ongoing situation for many people. “With the price of everything going up, it is extremely hard to feel comfortable,” she says.
Elyse Anne Robertson, director of communications for the Centre des Services Communautaires Vanier (CSCV), says many clients are coming in with housing issues due to increased rent.
“People are coming in and building new construction and kicking out tenants,” she says. “It puts a lot of people in fragile situations.” Robertson is encouraged by initiatives such as OCLT’s that help to remedy the situation.
The CSCV has a legal clinic which assists residents and informs them of their rights as tenants, she adds. Additionally, the CSCV is in the preliminary stages of planning an affordable housing project that will be connected to its current hub.
For OCLT properties, there is a commitment that the tenants who are there are able to stay, with protected rent levels, Bulthuis says. In addition, as a non-market, non-profit organization, the property is now removed from the speculative market and placed under community ownership, he adds.
OCLT uses social financing that pools investment from the community and sometimes grants and loans, a method that has been used in other cities in Canada. Individuals, businesses, and organizations purchase community bonds, and the proceeds are used to secure rental properties. Called housing forever bonds (www.housingforeverbonds.ca), OCLT partners with the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (a non-profit landlord)to raise funds. With a goal of $ 25 million in the next five years, the initiative aims to acquire 200 rental homes.
“We’re ultimately trying to grow what we call a revolving acquisition fund so that when real estate opportunities become known to us, we can respond quite quickly,” Bulthuis says. Once the property is acquired, it is then “headleased” to other non-profits or community housing organizations. The end result for tenants is stable, predictable housing.
Balthuis says the organization is active on social media and hosts workshops to promote the bonds. OCLT also remains aware of buildings that may come on the market through its network of other non-profit organizations and landlords.
For individuals or groups who invest in the community bond, the payoff is twofold: they receive returns on a scale of interest rates depending on the terms and durations, but they range from 2.75 per cent to 3.5 per cent over a period of three, five or seven years. The loans are repaid with these interest rates, with a minimum investment of $1,000. They will also gain satisfaction from supporting a cause they believe in.
In a past round of investment, 133 individuals and families participated, Bulthuis says. In addition, five different non-profit organizations each invested $100,000 in the bond, including the Centretown Community Health Centre.
“As we grow our financial balance sheet and we get stronger, that will grant us more opportunities to leverage our properties and preserve more affordable housing,” Bulthuis says.
