Salvation Army Lessons for Rideau Rockcliffe

 

Montreal Road: Why the Salvation Army's Shelter Plan Had to Go

What are the lessons for Rideau Rockcliffe?

The Salvation Army has announced that its controversial shelter project on Montreal Road will not move ahead as originally proposed.

Rising costs have forced what community advocates have been arguing for years: that this wasn't the right solution in the first place.

I want to be clear, this isn't about being against helping people who are experiencing homelessness. It's about insisting we do better than warehousing them.
The Problem Was Never Shelter
When the Salvation Army first proposed this project back in 2017, it was massive: a 350-bed shelter in Vanier. When the scope was later reduced to 211 beds, the fundamental issue remained the same. We were looking at concentrating large numbers of people experiencing homelessness in one location, creating what amounts to a social services ghetto rather than a genuine solution.

The community got this right from the start. Drew Dobson and the folks at SOS Vanier, the Vanier Business Improvement Area, and many others said the same thing: shelters aren't a solution. They're a Band-Aid. They warehouse people rather than housing them.
Housing Works Better
We've known this for a while now. Last week, the Shepherds of Good Hope announced they're moving in the right direction—replacing their emergency shelter with supportive housing.

Their leadership understands what evidence shows:
people in stable housing have better outcomes.

They can address addiction, mental health, and employment in an environment that actually supports recovery and reintegration.

That's what we need more of. Not bigger shelters. Not more concentrated services in a single neighborhood. Housing with supports. Real solutions that treat people with dignity and give them a foundation to rebuild their lives.
The Real Path Forward
Now that the Salvation Army's original plan is off the table, we have an opportunity.

VANIER'S local councillor has made it clear: any future project on this site should focus on housing, not shelter beds. I absolutely agree.

This is what good advocacy looks like, Community members speaking up, year after year, even when they're being told they're in the minority. And eventually, the facts and the arguments catch up. You can't build a healthy neighborhood by concentrating poverty and homelessness in one location and calling it a service hub.
If we're serious about addressing homelessness in Ottawa, we need to commit to housing-first approaches. We need distributed supportive housing throughout the city. We need wraparound services that follow people into their homes, not institutions designed to manage them in one place.

The Salvation Army will likely return with a revised proposal. When they do, the community needs to stay engaged and insist on housing.

Not warehousing. Not ghettos. Housing.
That's not just good policy  it's the right thing to do.

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What do you think the next steps should be for the Montreal Road site? Have your say in the comments below.