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Who we are

The Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table brings together, housing providers, shelters, service agencies, City of Ottawa staff, Indigenous partners and people with lived experience to co-design solutions through a data-driven, systems-level approach. Our work is grounded in values of collaboration, accountability, right to housing, equity and inclusion, and Indigenous leadership.

Our mission

Our mission is to plan, design, and oversee the ongoing implementation of an integrated housing & homelessness system and related sectors to deliver affordable, suitable, and adequate housing choices and reductions in homelessness in Ottawa. Read our Terms of Reference here.

Leadership frameworks

Real change only happens when communities lead, systems listen, and we push ourselves to do better—especially where equity, Indigenous leadership, and meaningful community buy-in are not yet where they need to be. Co-design isn’t easy, but it’s necessary if we’re serious about ending homelessness for everyone. By bringing together all of the different components of the system, we are able to harness the expertise of each sector. By centring the voices of people with lived experience we are challenged to be more accountable, more compassionate and more courageous.

Indigenous leadership

Indigenous Leadership is a reflection of the core values, principles and responsibilities that one has in relationship to community and land. Our vision of leadership is intended to build on and reinforce the collective approach expressed in the HHLT Terms of Reference.

The Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition has developed an urban Indigenous Housing and Homelessness Strategy, by Indigenous, for Indigenous.

Indigenous people access non-Indigenous-specific services for a variety of reasons, including anti-Indigenous racism and stigma, and we need to ensure that the entire housing and homelessness system has the capacity to deliver services that are trauma informed and culturally appropriate as part of reconciliation.

Lived experience leadership

People with lived experience of homelessness (who have personally experienced being without stable, safe, or permanent housing, either in the past or currently) hold two seats on the Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table. They bring essential firsthand insight about the realities of navigating the system.

They are uniquely positioned to identify gaps, barriers, and unintended impacts that may be overlooked by others. They contribute practical, solutions-oriented perspectives grounded in real interactions with shelters, housing providers, and support services. Their involvement helps ensure decisions are informed by reality rather than assumptions.

The HHLT is committed to centering lived experience through co-design, shared decision-making, and meaningful participation. People with lived experience help keep the table accountable to its commitments while working collaboratively with partners to strengthen outcomes. By transforming difficult experiences into leadership, they promote equity, improve the system, and help ensure no one is left behind on the path to safe, stable housing for all.

Photo from Disabled And Here.

Community sectors

The Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table was designed to bring together leaders from across the housing and homelessness ecosystem. Sectors were selected to represent distinct “systems” of funding and regulations, and include Shelters, Day Programs, Social and Supportive Housing, Private Landlords, Community Health and Resource Centres, Justice, Youth, Gender Based Violence and Newcomers. Applying a gender and intersectional lens to housing need will ensure that solutions prioritize equity deserving demographic groups including Indigenous, Black and racialized individuals and families, single-mother-led families, older adults, and people with disabilities.

Each HHLT sector leader connects into work happening at coordinating sector-specific tables. Each organization has their own mission and mandate and strategic goals, set by their Board of Directors. Coming together across organizations and across sectors to strategize and prioritize helps break down barriers, reduce duplication and provide better client outcomes and staff experiences.

Ottawa Community Housing

Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) is a permanent member of the HHLT, reflecting its role as Ottawa’s primary community housing provider and its governance as a local housing corporation whose sole shareholder is the City of Ottawa.

OCH provides approximately 15,500 homes to more than 33,000 residents, including seniors, families, individuals, and people with disabilities. OCH manages two-thirds of the city’s community housing portfolio, including a majority of rent-geared-to-income (RGI) homes and homes offered at below-average market rents.

As an experienced housing provider and builder of affordable housing, OCH maintains a continuous development pipeline and actively works to build and preserve affordable homes in Ottawa, including through strategic acquisitions of rental properties. Its operational and development expertise is strengthened through partnerships with nearly 100 community and private-sector organizations to support a diverse range of resident needs across its mixed-income portfolio.

OCH is also a key partner in advancing integrated approaches to housing, health, and social services. Through initiatives such as its Complex Care Housing Strategy, Bumblebee Initiative, programs such as Aging in Place and emerging strategies focussed on youth and francophone communities, OCH contributes to tenant stability, and helps build more coordinated, preventative pathways across housing, health, and social services.

City of Ottawa

The City of Ottawa plays a leadership and stewardship role on the HHLT as the municipal Service Manager for housing and homelessness. The City’s provides strategic oversight, policy alignment, and funding administration to support a coordinated and integrated housing and homelessness system. City leadership is embedded into the HHLT through a dedicated seat and co-chairing responsibilities shared with the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, reinforcing a model of collaboration and cross-sector governance.

The City brings together system planning, data-driven decision making, and accountability to Council, ensuring the alignment with the City of Ottawa Strategic Plan, the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan, and the Indigenous Housing and Homelessness Strategy. Through the HHLT, the City works in partnership with sector leaders to strengthen governance, advance system integration and support coordinated responses that improve housing outcomes and reduce homelessness in Ottawa.

Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa

The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa is a member-driven coalition of over 75 organizations from across the housing and homelessness ecosystem working together to end homelessness through system coordination, advocacy, and mobilization.

Alliance members include shelters, day programs, affordable and supportive housing providers, community health centres, and agencies serving youth, newcomers, Indigenous people, and survivors of gender-based violence.

The Alliance centres the voices of people with lived experience through its Expert Steering Team, a staff team who are leading the way in trauma-informed, anti-oppressive and ethical engagement of people with lived experience in policy and program design and education.

The Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa holds a dedicated seat at the Housing and Homelessness Leadership Table in recognition of its role as a local leader in convening and galvanizing the sector, and has an additional backbone role, providing secretariat support and dedicated staff resources to implement the workplan of the HHLT.