Pandemic-era temporary shelters still being used as demand persists

What started as a short-term solution to try to limit overcrowding at Ottawa's homeless shelters early in the COVID-19 pandemic is set to continue at least until late summer, according to a city memo, as demand for shelter space remains high.

"Our shelter system is stretched to its limits," Chris Tuck, Ottawa's director of employment and social services, told the Vanier Community Association in a meeting earlier this month.

"As we pivot to the post-pandemic era, unfortunately the rate of homelessness is increasing."

Ottawa is losing its physical distancing centres at the Saintlo Ottawa Jail hostel on Nicholas Street at the end of March and at the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre on March 8.

To accommodate the loss of beds, the city said it will open a temporary homeless shelter at Bernard Grandmaître Arena in Vanier for 74 men until mid-August and one at the Heron Community Centre for 100 people in March and April. 

Bernard Grandmaître had previously opened as a respite centre before returning to an arena this winter. The Heron Community Centre had served as a physical distancing centre, or temporary shelter, earlier in the pandemic. 

The Dempsey Community Centre will continue to provide beds for up to 57 women until August.

Motion seeking end of temporary solutions

On Tuesday, Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr plans to introduce a motion at the community services committee to ask staff for a timeline to move away from the reliance on temporary shelters and help unhoused people find more permanent accommodations.

Carr's ward has hosted temporary shelters since September 2020, she told the Vanier meeting.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante supports the motion, saying she's concerned about the Vanier arena remaining a shelter beyond August.

What was supposed to be a six-month pilot turned into two years.- Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante

"What was supposed to be a six-month pilot turned into two years," she said.

Plante is also concerned this use for the arena may bring with it a surge in needle use and doubts the facility, which installs beds on the ice pad, is the right fit for vulnerable people.

"Everybody deserves a roof over their heads no matter what their setbacks. They deserve a key and I just don't feel like this fulfils that," she said.

Lack of programming in low-income area

Chris Greenshields, interim president of the Vanier Community Association, said the community had hoped to use the arena for basketball or lacrosse this summer.

The arena is one of the few recreation centres in the low-income neighbourhood and Greenshields said his group had been pushing the city to create programs for youth and seniors.

"The irony is the city chose this location [as a temporary shelter] because there is no programming," he said.

According to Carr, the city-run shelters have their strong points — they run all day so clients aren't kicked out, they are non-religious and provide lots of supports.

In Alta Vista, the community saw relatively little effect from people seeking shelter there, she said. The impact was more about the cut to recreation services while community centres were repurposed.

City report coming later in 2023

Ottawa faces a mix of factors that means it needs shelter spaces in the short term.

There is an ongoing shortage of affordable housing, Tuck said, and a constant growing need.

In the last eight months alone, the federal government said it moved 702 asylum claimants to Ottawa. They often need shelter services for a period of time.

The city is also reckoning with a recent court ruling in Waterloo that said the municipality could not remove an encampment without ensuring there was first sufficient shelter space.

Last year alone, Ottawa removed 343 encampments, according to Tuck. 

City staff plan to bring a report on longer-term solutions to address homelessness in April, May or June.

Last year, 4,031 people used shelters in Ottawa. The average stay was 70 days. In 2019, 4,796 people used shelters but stayed for an average of 64 days.

This spring and summer, several permanent transitional and supporting housing options are being built — with 107 single-person units slated to open — but they will only help a fraction of those people.