Ottawa City Council Approves New Housing Strategy

Ottawa City Council has approved a new housing strategy designed to accelerate construction by cutting permitting delays and easing financial barriers for developers. The strategy, described by council as a bold step toward improving housing supply, adopts more than 50 recommendations from the city’s housing innovation task force. Roughly 40 per cent of these measures will take effect immediately, with another significant portion scheduled for implementation by spring 2026.

The initiative earned rare cross-sector support, with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe noting that praise came from both housing advocates and industry representatives — a sign, he said, that the city had found common ground in tackling the housing crisis. “It’s not often we see alignment across the entire spectrum, from homelessness services to market housing builders,” Sutcliffe told council following the vote.

Industry leaders echoed that optimism. Jason Burggraaf, president of the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders’ Association, said the immediate fee changes could spark movement on developments that had been paused due to rising costs. By deferring certain development fees during early construction phases, the city hopes to improve cash flow and allow builders to move ahead with higher-density projects that had become financially unworkable.

One of the most closely watched elements of the plan involves reforming the community benefits charge, a fee applied to larger residential projects. The task force had recommended a full five-year moratorium on the charge, which currently sits at four per cent of land value for buildings over five storeys with at least 10 units. Council opted instead for a reduction rather than suspension. Under a motion from Coun. Laine Johnson, the charge will drop to two per cent city-wide and to one per cent for developments located near major transit stations.

Developers had previously been reducing the size of projects to avoid the fee, resulting in fewer housing units being built. Supporters of the revised policy say the lower rate will encourage more ambitious construction, particularly along transit corridors. The city’s own figures show that the benefits charge has brought in just $1.6 million since its introduction in 2022 — far below the projected $31 million expected over a decade — raising further questions about its effectiveness.

Council framed the strategy as the first phase of a wider push to modernize Ottawa’s housing system, signalling that more regulatory changes are likely to follow as the city works to boost supply and improve affordability.