By: Zack Bradley
Mobility By City Ward
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If you’re unemployed, there is a good chance you live around Vanier, according to the 2011 National Household Survey data.

The municipal ward of Rideau-Vanier, which consists of the neighbourhoods of Sandy Hill, the Byward Market, Lowertown, and Vanier, holds 7 per cent of the city’s unemployed workers and has the highest rate of unemployment, with 10 per cent of its residents not having a job.

City Councillor Mathieu Fleury, says the high rate is mainly caused by the large number of low-income families that reside in the ward. However, he also notes that this data is just a snapshot and does not reflect the ward today.

“Rideau-Vanier has such a quick turnover of residents and this makes it difficult to examine,” says Fleury. “You could back track or go forward 6 months and get completely different results. This is just too small of snapshot.”

Fleury is correct by noting the mobility. According the National Household Survey, in the past five year, 57 per cent of residents in Vanier changed homes, giving the ward the second highest amount of mobile residents. Whether these residents moved outside the ward or stayed within is unknown, but it is apparent many residents are not staying still for long, which can be a problem for comparing data.

Suzanne Valiquet, the former executive director of the Vanier Business Improvement Area, actually says a high rate of mobility can cause high unemployment rates, but it is not the big issue at hand. Valiquet says the issue of unemployment is result of a lack of action between the city and local business developers in gentrifying the area.

“Vanier is very much like any intercity neighbourhood that has not yet been white-painted or gentrified,” says Valiquet. “There is a redevelopment process occurring all over North America right now and in our city, this is where it hasn’t happened.”

Valiquet, who claims she felt as if Vanier had been forgotten during her time at the BIA, questions why the city has not begun to start redeveloping Vanier as it has with other neighbourhoods.

“Vanier is the closest in proximity to the downtown core. It should have been developed by now,” says Valiquet. “Why isn’t this part being developed like the rest of Ottawa? Westboro was not much different from Vanier before, but you wouldn’t know it now.”

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However, while frustrated with the lack development, Valiquet does agree there are other factors responsible for this high rate of unemployment in Rideau-Vanier. Valiquet points to a lack of education, a high amount of immigration, and a bursting number of low-income families as reasons for so many jobless residents.

She also notes, as strange as it sounds, that Vanier has simply become a hot bed for the unemployed.

“Vanier is like a little city inside a big city. It has all your amenities within walking distance and you’re close to everything,” says Valiquet. “If you’re going to be unemployed somewhere in the city, it’s the place to be. You got everything you need.”

Yet, as Valiquet notes, pinning redevelopment against unemployment does not always result in the friendliest results. .

“While gentrifying is great, it still leaves the question of where are these people going to go? Because they’re not going up with the houses,” says Valiquet about the currently unemployed in Vanier. “The properties will take value, but it will result in the unemployed being pushed out and there is nowhere for them to go. That’s the sad part to all this.”

A third of Syrian-born residents in the nation’s capital live in the city’s south end, according to an analysis of Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey.

With the first planeload of Syrian refugees expected to touch down on Canadian soil this week, there are still questions surrounding where these refugees will live in some of the country’s major municipalities.

“We are trying to obviously spread them out,“ said Gloucester-South Nepean Councillor Michael Qaqish referring to the Syrian refugees who are coming to the nation’s capital.

In Ottawa, 900 Syrian-Canadians live in the city’s Gloucester-Southgate, River and Gloucester-South Nepean wards. Qaqish said he’s been receiving phone calls and emails from people in his community asking how they can host a family in their home — and many non-Arabic speaking residents are offering their help.

“Most residents are concerned with shelter, housing and food for these people that have been living in camps for the past few years,” said Qaqish.

There will be a language barrier for many refugees arriving in Ottawa from Syria, a predominately Arabic-speaking country. For Qaqish, he thinks language is the least of everyone’s concerns and is something that can be dealt with much later.

But Brian J. Given disagrees. He’s a professor of anthropology at Carleton University whose research includes immigrant and refugee settlement and adaptation.

“The first priority is that they get the language,” said Given. “We need to make sure they have enough language and basic cultural knowledge so they have a chance at settling.”

Given believes that a basic understanding of English will help refugees establish their own networks in Ottawa. If they can’t speak with others in English, he said there’s a risk that newcomers may settle with a small group of people that they can talk to in Arabic – and may be drawn to communities in the city’s south end.

“The reality is it’s just so much more relaxing when talking to someone who gets you, someone with the same language or even the same cultural fit,” Given said.

Tanya Mendes-Gagnon, senior director of newcomer services at the YMCA, said families who are privately sponsoring refugees have a big responsibility to help settle newcomers.

“We’re reaching out to the host families and really promoting our services so they understand the importance of truly integrating refugees when they arrive,” she said.

According to Mendes-Gagnon, about 800 government-sponsored refugees will be settling in Ottawa by the end of February. The program she runs helps about 2,000 refugees a year access housing, employment and language services.

“For now, our manpower is adequate,” said Mendes-Gagnon. “We’re busy getting the new refugees into their homes.”

In the last two months, Mendes-Gagnon said the YMCA has “ramped up” its work and increased community consultations, especially within immigrant communities. The YMCA’s Language Assessment and Referral Centre will be connecting refugees with programs that’ll help them learn English – but Mendes-Gagnon isn’t worried about an increase in demand just yet.

“It is still early days to say if we’ll need to open up more classes, or provide any extra language services,” she said.

But Given wants refugees to receive immediate language and culture training, even if that presents new trials.

“It’s very challenging to learn a language especially if you’ve already been stressed,” he said.

Without that training, Given said it’s “fairly likely” that refugees will be drawn to communities with a larger Syrian or Arabic-speaking population and may become isolated from what he calls “established Canadians.” And that worries Givens.

“The newcomers will end up paying a price later because of settlement issues and general hostility from the population at large.”

By Priscilla Hwang

Almost twenty-five years ago, the first Somali refugees fleeing the Somali civil war began trickling into Canada.

“When the war broke out, people fled in whichever direction they could go,” said Rukia Warsame, a former refugee who fled to Canada at that time.

Today, 25,000 Syrian refugees are expected to come by February 2016. This is a realistic and even a minuscule number, according to Professor Kamal Dib who specializes in the Middle East and Canadian social policy at the University of Ottawa.

“Twenty-five thousand is a drop in the bucket,” said Dib.

Ottawa could welcome as many as 2,000 Syrian refugees by February, said Mayor Jim Watson last month. This may be just the beginning of perhaps a larger resettlement of Syrians in Ottawa in the coming years.

The short-term questions are where to settle them but the larger issue is the resettlement process and integration of the refugees into the society, according to Habiba Ali, a Somali playwright of three plays addressing the plight of the Somali immigrant population.

The largest Somali population lives in Ottawa’s Southeast end, according to analysis of the 2011 national household census data. This area encompasses the Alta Vista ward with areas from Elmvale to Cedarwood and the Gloucester-Southgate ward with areas east of the Rideau River to parts of Heron Gate.

Eleven per cent or over a tenth of the population in the Alta Vista ward identified to speak Somali most often at home. Just under a tenth or 8.5 per cent of the population in Gloucester-Southgate identified themselves as Somali speakers at home.

The large availability social housing in this area is a factor for this concentration of Somalis, according to Warsame, a settlement counsellor at the Somali Center for Family Services.

Congregating in an area close to others with the same ethnic background and language is a norm, she said.

Ottawa’s southeast end, however, is known for its criminal activity and run-down neighbourhoods. And one major challenge faced by the Ottawa Somali community is youth criminalization, said Ali who is also a youth social worker.

According to Ottawa Police 2016 draft budget documents released last week, the OPP is designating the largest amount of money to the police centre located in the Heron Gate region in Ottawa’s south end.

The resources for policing operations are doubled for this location compared to rest of Ottawa’s police centres.

There were four incidents of swarming and robbing lone victims in the Cedarwood area between Nov. 27 and 30, according to an Ottawa Police release last week. Hakim Abdu Ker, 19, and a male youth, 15, were charged.

Two men have also been charged for stabbings on Cedarwood drive on Oct. 21. Mohamud Hussein, 25, and Mohamed Ismail, 20, are facing charges.

The Ottawa police did not confirm the ethnicity of the men’s backgrounds.

“Their names are of a Somali descent, but I can’t specify that’s where they’re from” said Constable Chuck Benoit, media relations officer for Ottawa Police. “All incidences are investigated separately unless they’re joined with certain bodies or people, gang related or drug trade.”

But Somali gangs have been an issue in this region for several years.

“A lot of Somali boys are going into gangs,” said Isra Ahmed, a Somali student from Carleton University. “I have friends who have brothers affiliated with gangs. They’ve been in prison. It’s quite sad to see them go through things like that.”

Other challenges for immigrants and refugees include intergenerational gaps, mental health issues, as well as discrimination.

Ali, who has lived in Canada since she was four years old, still receives discrimination here in Ottawa.

“I’m told by ignorant people to go back home,” said Ali. “This is home for me. This is all I know.”

After twenty-five years, the Somali population have integrated into Ottawa’s society.

“Successful integration isn’t really shared as much as unsuccessful integration,” said Ali. This year Canada elected its first Somali MP Ahmed Hussen who was a Somali refugee.

Currently, the Syrian refugees can bypass the challenges of documentation because of the security checks they receive overseas “It was not done before to this speed that it’s being done now. Before it would take years,” said Warsame.

But the greater challenge will be awaiting them in Canada.

“There’s a lack of support,” said Ali. “Coming from a completely supportive environment where there’s lots of neighbours and family members around to an individualistic, isolated place like Canada where everyone is to each their own.”

The largest Arabic speaking population also lives in the southeast end of Ottawa.

This may suggest that in the longer term, the Syrian population may find themselves integrating in to these areas of Ottawa where this Arabic speaking population exists.

But according to Ali, the best way to overcome challenges as a newcomer is to reconsider the definition of home.

“The one foot in and one foot out mentality is never good,” said Ali. “The faster they object to realizing that this is home, the more success their integration process will be.”

“Because no matter where you are, you should treat that as home. Even if it is temporary, but you never know – it could be longer.”

By Nicole Rutherford

Moving to a different country can be life-saving, offering a fresh start for immigrants or refugees, but it can also erase a lifetime of work.

Throughout Ottawa, it is evident from the analysis of Ottawa’s National Household Survey of 2011 that the wards with the most immigrants per capita are also the wards with the lowest incomes. While language and networking barriers play a big part in this, another factor is the stunted recognition of education and credentials from foreign countries.

This is what associate professor at Carleton University and previous advisor of refugee policies to the United Nations, James Milner, refers to as “The age-old adage of brain surgeons driving taxis.”

Foreign education regulations are a big debate in Canada, especially surrounding careers in the education and medical fields.

“This is the age-old adage of brain surgeons driving taxis.”

“For the last five, six years there’s been a real emphasis on what’s called the recognition of foreign credentials,” said Milner. “The challenge is how do you ensure that there are retraining opportunities or verification or certification opportunities where these individuals can practice these much-needed skills in Canada?”

In the immigration process, certain careers allow for applicants to enter an express entry pool—a procedure that tallies points based on education credentials in conjunction with an applicant’s age and marital status. This helps expedite the acceptance of some candidates, but deters others if they don’t have experience in specific fields.

Click here to see an interactive version of this infographic

Another hurdle is coming into a new country without any professional networks. This is where Jasmine Qi, the project coordinator of the Ottawa Connector Program at Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) comes into play.

“We match newcomers with local employers based on experience and expertise,” Said Qi. “They meet one time for an information meeting, and then these local professionals will provide three additional references to the newcomer. This continues and helps newcomers build a new network.”

While the Connector Program does not focus on candidates being hired, Qi believes that the project’s initiatives are just as important.

“For us, we just want to try our best to help newcomers, because we know they are struggling from a lack of network and information.” said Qi, noting that the most common network seekers are foreign engineers.

Mohammad Shaa, a former dental technician, embodies these career challenges. He ran his own laboratory in his hometown of Homs, Syria, before the war broke out.

“I was one of the best,” said Shaa with a proud grin over a Skype conversation.

Shaa even moved and opened a second successful, but short-lived, laboratory in Damascus when things got too violent in Homs. The violence followed him.

“I had a good life. A great life,” Shaa said. “If I wanted something, I’d buy it. If I wanted a vacation I’d go. Now it’s all changed.”

Shaa, whose name has been changed for fear of threats to his relatives in Syria, escaped to the Netherlands after hiring a smuggler in Egypt. Now settled in the Netherlands, his degree, luckily, still counts—but he must learn Dutch before he can practice. He then must upgrade his education to a higher level so he can compete with Dutch contenders.

“I had a good life. A great life. If I wanted something, I’d buy it. If I wanted a vacation I’d go. Now it’s all changed.”

“I need to get a diploma in my field in the Netherlands,” said Shaa. “Otherwise I won’t find a job in my field. You can find a job as a cleaner or a cashier, but I don’t have any experience in this kind of job. I want to do my job, this is what I’m good at.”

While centres exist throughout Ottawa for immigrant integration, recognizing that immigrants and refugees are new Canadians and not simply a low-class workforce is something the new Liberal government will have to struggle with.

“Being able to engage with these kinds of programs would be one of the ways that Canada, to be frank, could derive the greatest benefit of resettlement programs,” said Milner. “[This way] the individuals who are resettled in Canada are able to more fully contribute to the needs of Canada once they’re here.”

Over the past six years there has been a decline in the production of family housing in Ottawa because of skyrocketing housing costs. According to data from the City of Ottawa’s Open Data website, today you are unlikely to own your first home until your mid-30s or later. “Costs have now reached the point where home ownership is beyond the reach of many young families,” says Shirley Morrison-Hawes of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association. “The term “affordability” is no longer restricted to publicly funded housing projects and is of real concern to all but the very wealthy.”

Currently in Ottawa the majority of homeowners are above 35 years of age and live primarily in the downtown core. Gloucester-Southgate, Rideau-Rockcliffe, and Rideau-Vanier have the highest concentrations of this demographic of homeowners. The exception is Orleans, which also has a fairly high number.

Meanwhile, those who own a home but are 34 years old or younger populate the Somerset and Knoxdale-Merivale wards in higher numbers. A fair number also live in the Rideau-Vanier ward. For both demographics, the wards on the outskirts are the least popular; Rideau-Goulbourn and Osgoode.

This high city center concentration is becoming problematic. “Many of the smaller and mid sized builders in Ottawa have avoided the risks associated with land development by paying a premium to purchase serviced lots from larger integrated land development companies. This practice is disappearing since the City of Ottawa has refused to expand the urban boundary,” says Morrison-Hawes. According to the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders’ Association, 14.9% to 26% of a home’s cost is for serviced land. The actual construction costs are not the problem, as they have stayed constant for many years. “The real problem is the increase in fees and taxes imposed on homeowners by the government,” says Morrison-Hawes.

“Ottawa has many heritage districts, in which the homes often have a higher retail value,” writes Leslie Maitland of Heritage Ottawa. “That’s another reason why people over 35 can afford to live in these areas.” According to data from Statistics Canada, Ontario has the highest percentage of young people (early to late 20s) living at home, at 50.6%.

The relatively higher concentrations of both young and mature homeowners in and around the city center can be attributed to the fact that most jobs are located there. There are often a variety of housing options, but young people are not buying homes in the same way they were 20 years ago. As one can see from the provided maps, homeowners 35 and older however prefer neighbourhoods that are lower density, whereas those 34 and under prefer higher density areas with more apartment buildings and semi-detached homes. According to Statistics Canada, nearly half of all Canadians living in metropolitan areas live in neighbourhoods that are low density.

Based on current trends, the age of people purchasing their first home is only likely to increase in the next few years.

Jeff Leiper, city Councillor for Kitchissippi Ward, used to be able to see clear down the fence line to the next street over from his backyard. Now, all he sees is brickwork, thanks to a “monster” infill development that’s sprung up in the place of his neighbour’s old 1950s-era home.

“It’s a visual impact,” he says. “All of a sudden, instead of looking at blue sky in that direction, there was this very, very, very large house.”

He’s not alone. As more families move into the city, demand for housing in the downtown core has steadily increased. The increase has spurred an influx of infill development.
“There’s a strong trend towards intensification and gentrification, in which we’re seeing older homes torn down,” says Leiper. “And generally in a lot of our zones they’re replaced with a lot of very large semi-detached homes, so it’s an interesting tension right now.”

The tension stems from the clash of old versus new in some of Ottawa’s most established communities. According to an analysis of the City of Ottawa’s 2011 ward data from the census and 2011 national household survey, Kitchissippi has the highest number of pre-1960 houses in the city, with nearly 9600 recorded. Rideau-Vanier is a close second with 8400, while Capital ward has 8150.

According to Leiper, these numbers are dropping by the day. “Even just in the last year, it’s been five demolitions every two weeks, or 10 every month that I see,” he says. “It’s hundreds of these infills that have gone in over the last five years.”

The rise in infill development implies a demographic shift as well. Many of the city’s old neighbourhoods were built as inexpensive housing for the working and middle class. “Those of us who bought these smaller homes in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s; it’s a different demographic from the people who are able to afford these $800,000 and $1.2 million dollar homes,” says Leiper. He says the value of his home has tripled since he bought in 1998.

Marlene Borsboom, a long-time Ottawa real estate agent who now works as a Real Estate Management Officer at the National Capital Commission, says it’s a common situation. “You can have the old, decrepit, worst house that was ever built, but it will sell,” she says. “And usually they sell because someone’s going to buy it and build something else. They can build a detached or semi-detached house, and they can get double the money.”

In an attempt to stem the tide of infill developments, city council passed the Mature Neighbourhoods Bylaw, also known as Infill I. It aims to restrict several aspects of infill development, including front setbacks, parking locations, and balconies. Its partner bylaw, infill II, deals with development outside the core and came into effect this summer. Designated heritage areas and properties also receive special protections.

Infill II

Infill II Bylaw-City of Ottawa-2015-228-July-2015 (Text)

The bylaws are a start, but to Johanna Persohn, Chair of Glebe Community Association’s Heritage Committee, they may not be enough. She’s seen dozens of infill developments in her three years with the association, and says a more concrete zoning and development plan is needed to preserve the character of Ottawa’s older neighbourhoods.

“We’ve had some houses that have literally disappeared overnight, with very little warning,” she says, “and that’s because they fall within the existing zoning on the property and they’re not asking for anything extra.”

However, Persohn maintains infill itself isn’t a bad thing. “If it’s filling in huge, underused lots, that’s a good thing,” she says. “But right now, your developers are only going to teardown to replace with something bigger.”

Ultimately, Persohn is worried that if left unchecked, infill development may begin to have a detrimental impact on the existing character of older neighbourhoods. “These infills can create precedents,” she says. “A lot of them don’t have the same relationship to the street, and it worries me that you could end up in a street full of these and having a completely different feeling.”

By: Hayley Chazan

When 21-year-old Ottawa student Delaney Hoeppner moved into an apartment last September, she was excited about living on her own for the first time.

Hoeppner rented a basement unit of a house in downtown Ottawa. The rent was cheap, and the unit big.

While it seemed like the perfect first apartment for a student or young professional, the initial excitement soon wore off.

According to an analysis of Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey, the Rideau-Vanier and Somerset wards have the highest number of private residences per capita requiring major repairs in Ottawa. Renters are more at risk than homeowners to require major repairs to their dwellings.

Statistics Canada defines major repairs as dwellings with defective plumbing or wiring and dwellings needing structural repairs to doors, walls, floors and ceilings.

In Hoeppner’s case, it started with minor problems like poor water pressure in the bathroom sink. But as time went on, the repairs became more pressing.

Last winter, a problem arose with the front door that kept it from shutting completely for over two weeks.

“The apartment was freezing,” said Hoeppner.

When she finally summoned the courage to approach her landlord, she was met with resistance.

Ethienne Saint-Pierre, Executive Director of Action Logement, an organization that promotes affordable housing, said that Rideau-Vanier and Somerset wards require the most major repairs because there are a lot of small-time landlords there who can’t afford to do the work.

Nathaniel Mullin, a caseworker for Rideau-Vanier councillor Mathieu Fleury, who personally fields constituent complaints, said that while his office tries to avoid getting involved in disputes, they’ll occasionally act as a mediator if the landlord has a history of repair violations. Mullin said most of the repair problems stem from the fact that many structures are over 100 years old.

While the age of apartments in Ottawa place renters at a disadvantage, tenants also face other challenges when it comes to carrying out repairs.

The Residential Tenancies Act governs rental housing in Ontario. Landlords are responsible for maintaining and repairing rented residences. This means that renters, unlike homeowners, are unable to perform the repairs themselves and must wait for the landlord.

Tenants often end up in disputes with their landlords while attempting to address major repairs, according to Charles McDonald, Ottawa Centre’s Community Legal Services’ Executive Director.

McDonald said that if a landlord fails to perform the repairs within a reasonable timeframe, the tenant can register a complaint with the city. According to an analysis of the city’s 311 data, Rideau-Vanier and Somerset had the highest of number of complaints related to property and building codes in September 2015.

Following an inspection, the City may issue an “Order to Comply”. Failure to comply can result in the work being contracted out at the landlord’s expense or the granting of a rent reduction while the repairs remain outstanding.

This process can be lengthy, said McDonald, and it can persist longer if the landlord contests the decision.

Jean Lash, a lawyer with South Ottawa Community Legal Services, said that because of the stress that can arise out of the process, many tenants don’t confront their landlords.

“Tenants are afraid to start a conflict out of fear they’ll get evicted,” said Lash.

Nathaniel Mullin from councillor Fleury’s office said that this fear is part of the problem. He said there’s a lack of knowledge about tenant’s rights and many conflict situations could be avoided if tenants were aware of the landlord’s obligations.

Mullin said that every year, his office works with Ottawa U to provide students with information on the rules surrounding the landlord-tenant relationship.

While Delaney Hoeppner’s door was eventually fixed, the steady string of repairs during her tenancy was too much to handle.

“I saw out my one-year lease but moved home shortly after.”

“You walk around the neighbourhood and the building definitely sticks out, but realistically that was my only option,” said Clare Bonnyman, a fourth year Carleton University student living in the Glebe.

Bonnyman’s apartment has needed many major repairs since she moved into her basement bachelor apartment in April.

First there was a leak in her ceiling this summer.

“I went away for a couple days, came back and my whole kitchen table was soaked,” said Bonnyman. “They don’t know where it came from.”

Next, she has had to deal with the ongoing issue of faucets that do not turn on. The pipes often become filled with dirt rendering her only two sinks useless.

“I was at home yesterday and my bathroom sink, even when you would turn the faucet all the way on, would just do little drops,” said Bonnyman.

It’s not uncommon that student housing should need major repairs, especially in the Capital Ward where the homes are often older. At least one in 10 homes in the ward need major repairs according, to the latest census data.

The only other ward in Ottawa that comes close to having that percentage of homes in need of major repairs is Somerset Ward — the other ward in Ottawa with a high concentration of student homes. This is due to the two wards’ proximity to Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

“Those landlords who target student tenants tend to be the least likely to maintain their homes in a rigorous way,” said David Chernushenko, city councillor for Capital Ward. “The assumption being, they’ll make do, they’re glad to have whatever they can find.”

Homes that need major repairs, according to the latest census, are dwellings that have issues that would compromise the structure or major systems such as heating, plumbing and electrical.

“Why is it that you can walk down the street and go ‘oh there’s a student house’?” said Chernushenko. “Often it’s just the state or physical condition of the building.”

“Typically there’s more people in a student house than a family house and they have a busier social life and the house takes more of a beating,” said Pawel Pytlak, the property manager of Stone Manor PM, a company that owns several student homes.

Sometimes landlords put off repairs and put as many people in a home as possible to get the most money, said Pytlak.

“But it’s a two-way street. There are a lot of student groups out there that take liberties with the house and they really trash the house, so it’s a cat-and-mouse game.”

Chernushenko said that while there may be shifting blame on the issue, the amount of homes in need of major repairs is concerning.

“You want the houses to be kept up because of the look of the neighbourhood, and the value of other people’s real estate depends on the neighbourhood,” said Chernushenko.

It isn’t an issue that can be fixed solely by city council though, he said.

“We need to say what can be done as a city in collaboration with provincial and federal government to look at tax break incentives for home maintenance,” said Chernushenko.

The look of the homes that need major repairs, particularly the ones that attract a lot of students, changes the look of the neighbourhood, said Bonnyman.

“If you look at the Glebe, there’s tons of embassies around and some really nice houses, but there’s also these random pop-ups of student houses and you can smell them from a mile away,” said Bonnyman. “As students we have a right to a working house as well.”