City of Ottawa not proceeding with newcomer reception centres in Nepean, Kanata: Memo

The City of Ottawa will no longer be building sprung structures in Nepean and Kanata. CTV’s Kimberley Fowler reports.

The City of Ottawa will no longer be building newcomer reception centres at sites in Nepean and Kanata, according to a memo.

In an effort to house an increasing number of asylum seekers in the capital, the city had planned to install a tent-like building on Woodroffe Avenue, near the Nepean Sportsplex, to serve as a newcomer reception centre. A second structure was planned for 40 Hearst Way in Kanata, at the Eagleson Park & Ride, should the demand require it.

The plan was met with significant backlash from the community, as residents protested the facilities.

In a memo Wednesday, Kale Brown, interim director of Housing and Homelessness Services, said changing immigration trends and additional transitional housing options have eliminated the need for the newcomer reception centres.

“Since the last update on the strategy, there have been new opportunities for community space that can support the system” Brown wrote.

“Recently, the YMCA announced that it is no longer pursuing the sale of its building at 180 Argyle Avenue, which is currently being used as transitional housing for newcomers. Following this announcement, the City will be working with the YMCA to convert two additional unused floors for additional newcomer reception space. The federal government also confirmed that the prospective purchaser of 250 Lanark Avenue will not be proceeding with the sale. As a result, this will allow staff to pursue opportunities to extend the interim use of the space.

“These new opportunities, paired with demand trending downwards, will eliminate the need to develop the newcomer reception centres at 1645 Woodroffe Avenue and 40 Hearst Way. As such the procurement process and the plans to build at these locations will not proceed. The predevelopment work completed to date will be kept and staff will continue to monitor trends in demand.”

Brown said the number of asylum claimants being served in community shelters and overflow beds has decreased since last fall, crediting changes in federal immigration policies and the city’s success in increasing capacity for newcomer-specific transitional housing.

“Over the last six months, Ottawa has experienced sustained reductions in the number of newcomers accessing the shelter system, and there are now approximately 820 newcomers system wide,” Brown wrote.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe told CTV News Ottawa he thinks cancelling the plan for the centres is the right move.

“There is more capacity at some of the sites we thought we would be losing. There has been a change in plans for 250 Lanark and for the YMCA downtown and we also learned that building the newcomer welcome centers would take longer than we originally thought. So, when you put that all together, city staff decided, let’s not proceed with the newcomer welcome centres,” he said.

Sutcliffe added that he hopes this can take some of the tension around the issue.

“Ottawa has always been a kind and welcoming city. My parents were new arrivals to this country and to the city at one time. We’ve done this over and over again throughout generations. If we can focus on welcoming those people who are coming to our city and stay away from politicizing some of the solutions that we’ve proposed in the past, then I think that’s a good outcome.”

Brown said, since the inception of the city’s Integrated Transition to Housing Strategy in 2023, the city has added 657 new permanent shelter or transitional housing beds for single adults, 132 new supportive housing units have opened with another 112 under construction and 134 in predevelopment, and 337 people with a history of chronic homelessness were housed through supportive, community, transitional and private market housing.

Brown also said 621 people staying in physical distancing centres in city facilities were housed between June 2023 and the end of 2024; however, he said with overflow sites possibly being needed next winter, it is currently not possible to move everyone out of community shelters and physical distancing centres.

The city is purchasing up to 20 homes around Ottawa to use for transitional housing and is in negotiations with the federal government for the ongoing use of the Graham Spry Building at 250 Lanark Ave., which was converted into a temporary warming centre in January 2024. Brown said between now and spring 2025, 290 new permanent beds will be added between the St. Joseph Boulevard and Queen Street Transitional Housing Programs.

“This is in addition to the additional capacity recently added at the YMCA transitional housing program, and through the expansion of scattered newcomer reception homes,” Brown wrote.

Relief for groups opposed to structures

Robert Carberry, spokesperson for a community group opposing the structures, says he is relieved by the decision, after months of pushing back against city hall. Carberry lives minutes away from one of the proposed sites for a sprung structure.

“We really had lost trust and faith in the city and the way this whole thing folded out from the beginning,” he said.

“We’re all for doing the right thing for homeless people and for the asylum seekers, but it should be a solution that’s also good for surrounding communities and surrounding businesses. Certainly, building a facility like this in the parking lot of Ottawa’s largest family recreation center made no sense.”

Kanata-South Coun. Allan Hubley says accommodating newcomers under a permanent structure would be a better solution down the road.

“I like that a whole lot better than some sort of structure in the middle of a Park & Ride. It didn’t sound too welcoming to me,” he said.

“This is safer for everybody.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Tyler Fleming and Kimberley Fowler