The Ottawa Mission’s impact report says the organization has faced another year of “unprecedented need” for its services, pointing to the closure of supervised consumption sites and a need for more financial assistance from upper levels of government as contributing to the worsening of the homelessness and addiction crisis in the city. The Mission’s 2025-26 Impact Report released on Wednesday outlines the number of people assisted by its services, including its emergency shelter, housing, food, job programs and addiction assistance. The report says it saw record numbers of vulnerable community members access its services over its past fiscal year. “Over the past year, we’ve responded to hunger and food insecurity by handing out more meals than ever before,” the Mission’s report said. “Once again, our shelter beds and overflow sleeping mats unfortunately remained fully occupied for 365 days of the year.” In a news release, Ottawa Mission CEO Peter Tilley says since 2020, Ottawa has been facing a “growing crisis of unsheltered homelessness compounded with mental health and substance use challenges.” “Associated effects such as encampments, increases in overdoses and discarded drug paraphernalia, and other symptoms of a community under increasing stress,” he said. “Provincial decisions such as the closure of all four of Ottawa’s supervised consumptions sites have made this situation worse.” The final supervised consumption sites in Ottawa shut their doors in June after the province ended their funding and shifted focus to recovery and treatment centres, also known as HART Hubs. There are currently two Hart Hubs in operation in Ottawa. The centres do not offer safe drug supply, needle exchanges or supervised consumption services. The Ottawa Mission, the largest and oldest shelter in the city, has campaigned to keep the supervised consumption sites open. Tilley told reporters Wednesday the closure of consumption and treatment sites has contributed to more overdoses occurring in uncontrolled locations, all while increasing pressure on frontline staff, paramedics and police. “It is tough to have sites in your community in your neighbourhood, but when those people are injecting within a controlled area, or they’re within a controlled area, the supports are immediate,” he said. “It’s a hard thing. When people are now in the back parking lots around the Ottawa Mission or elsewhere, it’s often dependent on their friends rushing up to our front line saying, ‘Help! Somebody’s overdosed and they’re not breathing.’ But fortunately, our frontline staff are also doing regular rounds.” Record number of meals served According to the Mission’s data, the organization provided a total of 1,233,658 meals to those in need last year, almost 20,000 more than last year. An average of 3,352 meals were served daily. Additionally, a total of 683,724 meals were handed out by its food trucks within Ottawa communities to those in need. Ottawa Public Health data shows one in four households in Ottawa face food insecurity. The data finds 1,370 people spent the night at its emergency shelter in the last year. The Mission says while total shelter occupancy declined to just over 8,724 in 2025, the number of people living in shelters remains higher than 10 years ago. Since the adoption of the City of Ottawa’s 10-year plan to end homelessness in 2014, the number of people living in shelters has risen from just over 6,700 that year to almost 9,500 in 2024, the report says. Tilley says he would like to see additional support from upper levels of government to address the fiscal impact of running its 29 different programs and services, most of which relies on donors. The latest count found 9,431 people were experiencing homelessness in Ottawa. “We need to do better. It’s great that we have an impact report. It’s great that we can release the numbers to show how the Ottawa Mission and our partners are meeting the need, as we say, but it’s not acceptable that we’re at this level,” he said. “Part of the reason we’re at this level is the three levels of government haven’t come to the table at the level we need them to, and we’ve got to change. We’ve got to change the course, and the time to change is now.” The Mission is calling on the City of Ottawa to fund measures within its poverty reduction strategy, including measures to address food insecurity, and urging “real and sustained action” by the provincial and federal governments to address the lack of affordable housing across Ottawa. Decline in refugees The Mission says on average, 188 individuals are sheltered nightly in emergency shelter beds and mats. Its occupancy rate stands at 105 per cent, the current maximum occupancy rate for the shelter. The percentage of refugees in shelter beds declined month-over-month in 2025, with 17 per cent of the shelter’s occupants being refugees in May 2025 falling to 5 per cent in April 2026. A total of 160 refugees stayed in shelter beds over the last year, or 12 per cent of occupants. “In 2023–24, the majority of intakes for and occupancy of shelter beds at our shelter were by refugees. As the City of Ottawa opened more transition shelters, our numbers gradually declined,” the Mission said. From its housing services, 165 people were placed into permanent housing, and 59 people were diverted away from the shelter to alternative housing. “This combined total of diverted and housed clients is more than the total number of emergency dorm beds at the shelter,” the Mission’s report said. The Mission’s biggest expense comes from its food and shelter services, making up 40 per cent of its total budget. Client services (13 per cent) and fundraising (13 per cent) were the next largest expenses. Other costs came from housing services, addiction and trauma services, and health services. A total of 55 per cent of its revenue came from donations, while 23 per cent came from the City of Ottawa. About 22 per cent came from “other sources” of income.
