By Deborah Mebude
The range of affordable housing reflects the diversity of our community. Lowertown is home to students, seniors, persons with a variety of specialized needs and many newcomers to Canada . These residents and their residences are an essential component of the richness and depth that is the character of Lowertown.
Our community is served by a number of providers of affordable housing. Prominent among these are the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation (OCH), Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (CCOC), Centretown Affordable Housing Development Corporation (Cahdco), Options Bytown Non-profit Housing Corporation. In addition, there are three housing co-ops. Each of these meets essential needs in the community, supplying an affordable place to call home for individuals and families.
OCH
Two-thirds of the city’s social housing portfolio is operated by OCH. According to their website, OCH is “the largest social housing provider in Ottawa and the second largest in Ontario.” It has over 15,000 homes throughout the city, serving a diverse population of Ottawa residents with varying languages, ethnicities and cultures. Just under 10% of the total, 1,363 affordable housing units situated on 11 different sites, are within the Lowertown community. In Lowertown, OCH housing can be found from Bruyère at Dalhousie in the northwest part of Lowertown all the way to Charlotte at Rideau in the southeast corner. Properties include low-rises, high-rises and stacked townhouses. OCH tenants include those in subsidized rentals, market rentals and transfers from other OCH units. Subsidized rentals are determined based on the tenant’s income, also known as rent geared to income (RGI), and are calculated at 30 per cent of total household income.
All applicants for RGI housing must apply through the Social Housing Registry of Ottawa, which currently has a waitlist. The majority of those who rent through OCH have a rental subsidy. Approximately 11 per cent of OCH tenants pay market rent which contains no subsidy but is instead comparable to standard rental prices in the Ottawa market.
CCOC
Sharing some similarities with OCH, CCOC is the second largest social- housing provider in the city, with a tenant and member directed, community- based approach to housing for low- and moderate-income people. CCOC works collaboratively with several community partners across Ottawa, believing that “the best way to be a community oriented landlord is to have everyone at the table.”
CCOC owns and operates more than 50 properties in Ottawa, providing nearly 1600 units of affordable rental housing. Their properties include duplexes, triplexes, row houses and large apartment buildings. In the Lowertown- ByWard Market area, they operate properties at 145 Clarence Street and 110 Nelson Street. To apply for a subsidized rental in any CCOC building, prospective tenants must again apply through the Social Housing Registry of Ottawa, which maintains the waiting list for all people applying for subsidized housing in the city. CCOC units have a mix of market and subsidized rentals. At present, all market rentals are occupied in their Lowertown locations.
Cahdco
Cahdco, originally known as Centretown Affordable Housing Development Corporation, is a non-profit-housing and development organization was created by CCOC in 1996 when the provincial government at the time stopped investing in affordable housing. As a sister organization to CCOC, rather than overseeing rentals CCOC provides development-consultant services to other non-profit groups wanting to develop affordable housing.
According to their website, “Since its inception in 1996, Cahdco has overseen the creation of numerous affordable housing projects” and continues to develop solutions to housing insecurity.
At their core, Cahdco’s services include the development of “social purpose real estate”, which encompasses a range of community spaces that serve some social good; “affordable home ownership”, which provides financing for individuals with low to moderate incomes to purchase their own homes; and “rental housing development”, which involves the creation of affordable rental housing.
In 2003, Cahdco embarked on their first affordable home-ownership project, known as Cahdco Clarence Gate. Made up of 30 units of stacked townhouses at the corner of Clarence Street and King Edward Avenue, the $5 million project aimed to make home ownership accessible, at a rate between $15,000 – $20,000 cheaper than comparable homes in the area. Funding was made possible through CCOC’s equity and condo sales, and was earmarked for individuals and households with annual incomes in the range of $30,000 to $48,000. Since these Lowertown beginnings, Cahdco has embarked on several other projects throughout the city.
Options Bytown
Similar to other community-grown housing initiatives, Options Bytown is a non-profit housing corporation described as a “locally-grown model of supportive housing.” Options Bytown works to specifically support those who face social isolation and other complex challenges. Through a supportive housing model, also known as “Housing Plus,” individuals are able to rely less on emergency services and instead build a sense of community and self-sufficiency.
Located in the heart of the ByWard Market on 380 Cumberland Street, Options Bytown’s first apartment building has stood since 1989, and features a 63-unit apartment building geared to the varying incomes of tenants. With on-site support services, tenants have the opportunity to pursue greater independence, but are also welcome to stay in Options Bytown housing on a permanent basis.
As a community in the centre of Ottawa’s downtown, Lowertown is well served by its vast array of affordable housing providers.