Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is pledging to end youth homelessness in Ottawa in the next five years. “Today, I pledge to end youth homelessness by 2030,” Sutcliffe said Tuesday at City Hall. “Ending youth homelessness is the first step to ending all homelessness. That’s because we know that almost 50 per cent of those who experience adult homelessness were first homeless before the age of 16.” The mayor said the 2026 budget, set to be unveiled in November, will feature several measures and investments to assist in the pledge. Sutcliffe also said that he will be racing in the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa’s upcoming Race to End Homelessness and serving as a judge in a “hackathon” at the University of Ottawa, where students, faculty, experts, and community members will co-design solutions to prevent youth homelessness. “In the months ahead, we’ll announce some significant moves and share progress towards our ambitious goal,” he said. “We are not asking for something that is impossible. It is a stretch goal, but it is absolutely something that we can do as a community when the right people are here,” said Kaite Burkholder Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and co-chair of the Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table. ‘This is about breaking the cycle’ The mayor said between 50 and 100 young people are currently experiencing homelessness in Ottawa, but he also noted that the number is often changing. “That’s a snapshot in time, and those people will be helped in the coming days and weeks and other people will arrive,” he said. “I’m thinking about all the young people who have never experience homelessness but might in the future.” Sutcliffe says he hopes to keep hundreds and hundreds of youths from experiencing homelessness over the coming years through prevention and diversion measures. READ ALSO: Mayor Mark Sutcliffe to make housing announcement for Ottawa this week Burkholder-Harris said by achieving this goal, the city will interrupt young peoples’ initial movement into homelessness while also preventing long-term chronic homelessness. “Ultimately, this is about breaking the cycle,” said Burkholder Harris. The mayor said he is “not looking for an investment” from other levels of government beyond the current support. “There isn’t a specific ask tied to this goal to the other levels of government. I think we have what it takes in Ottawa to solve this challenge and achieve this goal on our own.” The city has invested $82 million in affordable housing since 2022 and is on track to surpass $100 million in this term of council.
