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Ottawa earning “C+” in suitable and affordable housing, say experts

Data Assignment_Three_2015
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By: Craig Lord

Ottawa is falling short of expectations when it comes to providing suitable and affordable housing for its lowest-income citizens, experts say.

According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the five wards with the lowest median income are also among the six wards with highest instances of unsuitable housing per 1000 households. In other words, the lowest income residents are also most likely to experience unsuitable housing conditions.

Number of Unsuitable Homes per 1000 Homes, by Ward in Ottawa:

Source: 2011 National Household Survey
Source: 2011 National Household Survey

For a residence to be classified as unsuitable, according to Statistics Canada, means that the dwelling has enough bedrooms to fit the family living in it. Unsuitable homes may have children, parents, or even grandparents sharing bedrooms on a permanent basis.

“For a certain subset of the population, there’s a real difficulty in being able to find something that meets their needs,” says Noah Zon, a project lead with the Mowat Centre. Zon wrote a report in May of 2015 outlining Canada’s needs when it comes to affordable housing.

“There hasn’t been a lot of investment in new, purpose-built, rental buildings in Canada,” Zon says.

In September 2013, Ottawa city council embarked on a ten-year plan for housing in the Capital. It included approval for 130 new affordable housing units from 2013 to 2015 through the Ontario provincial Investing in Affordable Housing (IAH) Program. Affordable housing are units owned or subsidized by the city which offer rent reduced from market price for tenants, usually tied a household’s lower income.

Construction of additional units past 2015 has yet to be established, but that’s not the main concern for Steve Pomeroy, an urban planning consultant and associated researcher at Carleton University’s Centre for Urban Research and Education (CURE).

“There has been a preoccupation with ‘we need to be building affordable housing,’” Pomeroy says, noting that building affordable housing units is an expensive operation in itself.

In assessing the city’s response to its residents’ housing needs in recent years, Pomeroy offers a grade of “C+” – less than satisfactory.

“I think that it can spend smarter,” he says. Pomeroy suggests more direct support to lower-income families to facilitate renting affordable houses.

Just how big is the need for affordable options in Ottawa? In 2006, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a crown corporation tasked with housing issues in the country, said that 40,760 households were in “core housing need.”

Core housing need is composed of three metrics: whether a house is in adequate repair, whether a house is suitable (proper capacity for the household), and whether it’s affordable for the household. Affordability is determined by whether or not a household is putting more than 30 per cent of its income before taxes into housing payments.

The CMHC has not released numbers for 2011, given that variation between the National Household Survey and long-form census make comparisons difficult.

According to a report prepared before the establishment of Ottawa’s ten-year plan, at the start of 2013, 9,717 households were on a waiting list for a spot in Ottawa’s social housing.

Housing Needs in Ottawa, an Overview – City of Ottawa

Page 5 of Document 3 en Overview of Housing Needs Docx Item TEN YEAR HOUSING and HOMELESSNESS PLAN Meeting City Council Date 2013 09 25 13 00 00

Page 5 of Document 3 en Overview of Housing Needs Docx Item TEN YEAR HOUSING and HOMELESSNESS PLAN Meeting City Council Date 2013 09 25 13 00 00

Contributed to DocumentCloud by Steven Lord of David McKie’s Research Methods • View page as text

Zon says that families waiting for suitable housing are subjected to difficult living conditions. “When a household is either in inadequate, or unsafe, or they’re spending a significant amount of their income on shelter, it has widespread impacts on other aspects of their lives,” he says, noting that inadequate housing can affect healthcare outcomes and children’s schoolwork. “If you’re spending more on your housing, you can’t invest as much in your own well-being.” According to Zon’s report on affordable housing across Canada, 1 in 7 households are currently unable to afford adequate housing without spending more than 30 per cent of their income.

Access to Affordable Housing – Mowat Centre

Page 4 of AccesstoAffordableHousing
Page 4 of AccesstoAffordableHousing

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Inspectors turning up the heat on retirement residences

Data Assignment_Two_2015
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By Craig Lord

As baby boomers begin to approach old age en masse, retirement residences in Ottawa are increasingly becoming the target of food inspectors.

Looking at the City of Ottawa’s restaurant inspections data from 2009 to 2014, which includes retirement residences and any such food premises, the number of inspections of retirement homes increased by 387.5 per cent over those years. Compare that to the total number of food inspections in the city, which rose by just 59.9 per cent over the same period.

Inspections1Inspections2

Recently, too, the majority of infractions are coming from just four residences. The Promenade, Palisades, Redwoods, and Chartwell Heritage Retirement Residences account for more than half of violations from all residences from 2014 to May of 2015.

Inspections3

Peter Kocoris, general manager of the Promenade Retirement Residence, says that the violations aren’t always indicators of a poor kitchen condition. Most infractions are minor, like an unfilled soap dispenser, and do not pose immediate risk or cause for closure.

“If they have a finding, you could correct it right on the spot,” he says. “For the most part, it’s something that can be fixed.”

Kocoris, a former chef by trade, feels the Promenade is a well-maintained operation. He says there is continuous quality improvement internally, and that the occasional violation shouldn’t affect the confidence of patrons.

“Put it this way: I eat here too.”

The risk for seniors is higher with regards to food sanitation. Brenda Watson, executive director of the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education, says that the aging population is as vulnerable as children and pregnant women.

“Seniors are at greater risk. They just have to be extra diligent in practicing in safe-food handling,” she says.

Despite this, the standards for retirement residence inspections are the same for most other food premises. Ottawa Public Health says that retirement residences are inspected a minimum of three times per year, with regular offenders receiving additional inspections. The only difference in standards between a retirement home and a typical restaurant is that retirement homes require one member of the food preparation staff to be certified by Ottawa Public Health.

Page 10 of Retirement Homes Act (2010)

Page 10 of Retirement Homes Act (2010)

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Kocoris says that the risks associated with serving seniors are well documented, and acknowledges the additional responsibility.

“I think the standards are higher.”

Kocoris recalls the 2008 Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak. Toronto Public Health ramped up its investigations into a possible outbreak when a case of listeriosis was documented at a nursing home.

“People are more food-savvy now,” he says.

Since food inspections became a matter of public record in Ottawa, the ease of comparing residences for sanitation infractions has meant a tighter leash for any food establishment. Instead of feeling pressured by this reality, Kocoris says he and other residence managers should welcome the scrutiny.

“People should do their homework. … Nobody wants to put their parent in harm’s way. Honestly, most retirement homes should have an open-door policy. Show off the kitchens; show off how clean they are. People ask those types of questions now.”

Were his residence to ever face closure over a major infraction, Kocoris realizes there’s no coming back.

“It’s a public relations nightmare for not only retirement homes, but for any restaurant, to have a food poisoning issue. That’s your bread and butter. That’s your business. The last thing you want is to be in non-compliance.”