Councillor objects to deal with for-profit shelter operation

Ottawa Coun. Mathieu Fleury is raising a red flagover what he's callinga bad deal between thecity and afor-profit shelter business providing temporary housing for families in Vanier.

The city places hundreds of homeless families in budget motels at a cost of about$100 per night, or $3,000 per month. It's meant to be a temporary solution until they can find permanent homes.

In 2013, the city expanded its agreement with the Ottawa Inn on Montreal Road, where 47 units are reserved for homeless families, to include another 41 units in nearby apartment buildings. The hotel's owner, Ahmed Ali Syed, bought and refurbished theunits specifically for that purpose.

Fleury, who's concerned about the cost of the arrangement and questions whether city staff broke any rules when they agreed to it,has brought it to the attention of the city's auditor general, Ken Hughes. Hughes'soffice has not confirmed whether it plans to conduct an investigation.

"I'm fine with it, theoretically, if the owner was willing to sign a lease," Fleury said. "Then the tenants, those families, would have all the rights under the Landlord and Tenant Act, and I could assure you it wouldn't be as expensive."

'We want stability' for homeless, says Coun. Fleury

6 years ago

Duration 0:28

Coun. Mathieu Fleury says a city deal with a motel is putting vulnerable residents at greater risk.

City-wide, the average monthly rent for a similar-sized apartment was $1,564 in 2018, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation about half of what the city is spending to keep the families housed in the Vanierapartments,

Those families would be better served if the city invested the money in permanent, affordable housing, said Fleury, a longtime critic of the city's practice of placing homeless families in budget motels. Hepointed out that the city already offers rent supplements tolow-income families.

"The owner of those residential properties is not interested [in a traditional leasing arrangement] because they make so much money," he said.

Fleurysaid thesole-sourcedagreement, which did not require the approval ofcouncil, is an example of bad governance.

Apartments savemoney, city says

JaniceBurelle, the city's general manager of community and social services,defendedthe city'sdeal with Syed, saying it provides better living conditions for families and actually saves taxpayers money.

Because many of the homeless families are extended with many children, they'd normally be spread among two or three motel rooms at a cost of $200 or $300 per night $6,000 to $9,000 per month with no kitchens or private bedrooms.

By contrast, even large families can fit comfortably into one of Syed's apartments for just $100 per night.

An internal City of Ottawa email obtained by CBC suggests the apartment deal saved the city $800,000 in 2015.

Shelley VanBuskirk, the director of housing services for the city, said the families' rights are already protected under the city's agreement withSyed, even without a formal lease.

"Any issues are escalated to us and are immediately investigated and resolved," VanBuskirksaid.

Forever homes

Syed's son, Manzoor Ali Syed, who manages the motel and the apartments, saidthe family isopen to the idea of creating permanent, affordable housing, but the need for short-term emergency shelter isn't going away.

"We have more space, we're saving the city money," ManzoorSyed said. "Now they can use that money to go and actually build affordable housing to put these people in their forever homes."

In fact, the family would like to expand its agreement with the city to include 25 more apartment units, but the city has been reluctant to sign on becausestaff would rather see those units rented at market prices to ease Ottawa's tight vacancy rate.