Ottawa’s housing crisis is alive and kicking. Despite the past success of our It’s Time For Action campaign, the government needs to do more to meet the needs of our communities.

Minimum wage earners in our city need to spend almost 70% of their income on rent. And there are over 12,500 people on the waitlist for subsidized housing. This crisis is a failure of society, not individuals. No person is to blame for being homeless and everyone has a right to housing.

We invite you to help us endorse Starts With Home – a non-partisan campaign to mobilize public and political support for affordable housing in Ottawa. It’s being run in advance of October’s city election by the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa (ATEHO).

Starts With Home is calling on all levels of governments to:

  • Stop the loss of affordable housing.
  • Create more affordable housing.
  • Preserve the quality of existing affordable housing.

Your voice will make a difference! We urge you to take action: endorse the campaign, spread the word, write to your representative or volunteer.

Endorse Starts With Home

6 intersectional feminist housing demands

Women and gender diverse people experiencing oppression and discrimination are at significant risk of being houseless or living in precarious housing.

For example, 12% of women in Canada have been sexually abused by an intimate partner. Many are forced to live with their abuser, while some become homeless in their efforts to escape. Women who are homeless are also at high risk of experiencing sexual violence as they struggle to access safe spaces and social protection.

For this reason, CAWI is calling all levels of government to address the ongoing housing crisis in Ottawa with an intersectional feminist lens. We’ve partnered with the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) to develop 6 intersectional feminist housing demands of all levels of governments:

  1. Address gendered hidden homelessness.
  2. Prioritize space and safety for women and gender diverse people in emergency housing.
  3. Strengthen physical accessibility of new and existing housing.
  4. Improve housing system navigation.
  5. Provide diverse and specialized support.
  6. Eliminate transit fares and ensure close proximity to affordable housing and essential services.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’ll go a long way in supporting housing needs. For more information read our publication 2022 Elections: Key Issue Housing Crisis – 6 Intersectional Feminist Housing Demands.

Also read A Place to Call Home – Housing for All Women in Ottawa, a report from our 2019 forum: Housing for a Diversity of Women.