Ottawa housing waitlist long as 2025 shows progress and setbacks

Ottawa made significant strides in moving people out of homelessness in 2025, but the overall number of unhoused people rose, moving the city further from its goal of reducing chronic homelessness by 25 per cent.

According to the 2025 Housing and Homelessness Plan Progress Report, the city housed 1,017 households from the Centralized Wait List, 1,037 from the shelter system, 109 unsheltered individuals, 388 through the Housing First program, and 193 through the Indigenous Housing First Program. An additional 525 low-income households received housing benefits. By December 2025, 31 affordable and 48 supportive housing units had been completed, with 907 affordable and 87 supportive housing units under construction.

However, the Centralized Wait List remains at approximately 16,347 households, meaning only about 6.22 per cent of those waiting received housing last year. Wait times can stretch up to five years. Between 2024 and 2025, chronic homelessness among single adult men — the city's largest group facing chronic homelessness — increased, though the city did house 1,016 chronically homeless individuals across all demographics. Currently, 8,947 people are accessing shelters in Ottawa.

City staff note "ongoing pressures and complex challenges" despite the progress. In April, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the federal Build Canada Homes partnership with the City of Ottawa is adding eight new housing projects, bringing the total to 1,100 units and exceeding targets by about 10 per cent.