January 19, 2022

The Community Advisory Group mandated by Ottawa City Council to review the Salvation Army’s proposed development site plan at 333 Montreal Road met for the first time on January 13, 2022.

Following that meeting, local representatives from all orders of government, Hon. Mona Fortier, Member of Parliament, Ottawa-Vanier, Lucille Collard, Member of Provincial Parliament, Ottawa-Vanier and Mathieu Fleury, Councillor, Rideau-Vanier, issued the following joint statement:

“The ongoing COVID pandemic has clearly demonstrated that overcrowded drop-ins and temporary shelter spaces are an approach with serious shortcomings. The Salvation Army’s proposed mega-shelter for men on Montreal Road is dated and fails to acknowledge this reality. It does not meet the needs of the local community, the city, and the individuals it aims to serve.

We strongly believe that a better, more inclusive approach needs to involve supportive, modular housing projects that will give people a safe place to call home with individualized mental health, educational, and employment supports. There is general consensus that this is how we can best invest our efforts and resources to ensure real, lasting results to further our shared goal of reducing chronic homelessness and supporting vulnerable individuals.

New models and approaches are required to meet the challenges of today and the years to come. We will continue to work relentlessly to persuade the Salvation Army to abandon this model and alter the current project in a meaningful way.

As your elected officials, we are committed to ensuring value for taxpayers’ money, better results for communities, and ending chronic homelessness. To date, we have seen nothing to suggest that this project in its current form is right for our community, nor for any other Ottawa neighbourhood.”

Information and presentations from the Community Advisory Group will be posted here. You can have your say on this proposal by visiting the City of Ottawa website.