Kitchissippi Ward

Office of Councillor Jeff Leiper

Opening our neighbourhoods to shelters

Today at our Planning and Housing Committee meeting, I gave notice that I’ll be asking Council to fast-forward the proposal to remove any zoning barrier to building shelters[1] more widely across Ottawa’s urban area as the Official Plan directs us to do. I want to let residents know why.

Zoning rules give Council the ability to dictate what is and isn’t allowed on a parcel of land essentially according to how big and dense a building can be, and to what use it can be put. Today, if a provider wants to build a shelter on most properties in Ottawa, they’ll be forced to seek a re-zoning to permit the use. It’s a time-consuming and expensive process. In my neighbourhood, for instance, which is an R4 zone, shelters are not a permitted use. That means if an agency serving newcomers wanted to purchase or build a home to house them temporarily – as agencies like Matthew House, for instance do – it wouldn’t be allowed.

Council has already recognized that in a housing crisis the disallowance of shelters in most locations is inappropriate. In the heavily-consulted Official Plan that Council passed in 2021, we committed to removing the zoning barrier to building shelters. Today, Council and the City are engaged in updating the zoning by-law to match what the Official Plan already says, and the draft by-law proposes making the change.

But that zoning by-law won’t be passed until December. In the meantime, we don’t know what the year will bring: there may well be opportunities to accept funding for traditional or innovative new shelter models, and it’s important that we be in a position to act nimbly when the chance arises.

I should clarify that a permitted use is different from the limits that zoning puts on the size and density of building. Things like limits on height, setbacks and density would all continue to apply – a low-rise neighbourhood isn’t going to host a large shelter in its midst if my motion passes. But if it passes Council, there will no longer be a question as to whether one type of occupant is allowed, but another not. We would do away with that form of “people zoning” just as our Official Plan directs.

It’s also important to note that not every proposed shelter will require a re-zoning. There may be other consultations that the City wants to undertake when deciding where to put one, but zoning may not require that.

Until the zoning is changed uniformly across the city, if applications are made to re-zone properties to allow shelter use Council has little choice but to approve those given the explicit language of the Official Plan. In many cases, those will be over the opposition of some residents who will almost certainly invest significant time in providing feedback to those applications. If the conclusion of those applications is almost always foregone that just exacerbates cynicism in the planning process.

I have also made a concession to carve out a potential re-zoning for the Sprung structure on Hearst Way in Kanata. While a re-zoning to permit a “shelter” use will be measured against the same Official Plan requirement as others, residents who have opposed that have been promised a zoning hearing to make their views known. I don’t want to by-pass that commitment made by the Mayor and others.

This is the right thing to do, and I hope Council will support it.


The motion as it stands today reads:

Whereas the Official Plan in section 4.2.3 (2) sets as Council’s policy that

“The City recognizes emergency and transitional shelters and transitional supportive housing as a key component of the housing continuum, which shall, through the Zoning By-law: 

a) Permit emergency shelters and transitional shelters as a permitted use in all urban designations and zones; 

b) Permit emergency shelters and transitional shelters as an accessory or ancillary use to all institutional land uses; and 

c) Not establish restrictions, including minimum separation distances or caps, whose effect is to limit the opportunity to provide such shelter and housing forms”; and,

Whereas the City has proposed in the first draft of the proposed new Comprehensive Zoning By-law section 704 in order to ensure zoning consistency with the Official Plan that “(1) A shelter is permitted in all zones within the Downtown Core, Inner Urban, Outer Urban and Suburban transects as shown on Schedule A1 – Transects, other than the EP – Environmental Protection, ME – Mineral Extraction, and IH – Heavy Industrial zones, and are subject to the provisions of the zone in which they are located.”; and

Whereas the policies in Official Plan section 4.2.3 (2) recognize “emergency and transitional shelters and transitional supportive housing as a key component of the housing continuum and require that emergency shelters and transitional shelters be permitted in all urban designations and zones”; and,

Whereas the City of Ottawa has declared in 2018 a Housing and Homelessness Emergency; and

Whereas it is reasonably foreseeable that federal, provincial or other funding will become available in 2025 to address the housing and homelessness emergency that could include funding for the acquisition of existing housing to be converted to emergency and transitional shelter, in addition to building new such shelters; and,

Whereas some proposed locations where these funds may be used do not currently permit “shelter” use as defined in the Zoning By-law 2008-250 and would require a resource- and time-intensive process to complete staff-initiated re-zonings; and,

Whereas amending By-law 2008-250 to permit “shelter” use in all urban zones in accordance with Official Plan policies will facilitate a faster response to the current crisis and efficient use of City resources;

Therefore be it resolved that staff be directed to bring forward a proposed amendment to By-law 2008-250 that would permit shelter use in all urban zones, consistent with the proposal in the draft comprehensive zoning by-law and Official Plan, at the earliest opportunity; and,

Be it further resolved that “shelter” shall have the same definition as that in By-law 2008-250 until such time as that may be amended through a future new comprehensive zoning by-law.

Be it further resolved that regardless of the modification to By-law 2008-250 effected as a result of this motion, any shelter use at 40 Hearst Way would be required to seek a re-zoning to permit shelter as a use, and that staff provide the necessary zoning language to give effect to this direction.


[1] Shelter means an establishment providing temporary accommodation to individuals who are in immediate need of emergency accommodation and food, and may include ancillary health care, counselling and social support services. [By-law 2008-250]