Ottawa Needs to Continue Housing Reforms to Retain Families
OTTAWA, ON – April 30, 2026 – The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) today is calling attention to data on intra-provincial migration showing that more families with children are moving to communities surrounding Ottawa rather than the City itself.
“Over the past year, the City of Ottawa has made meaningful progress to streamline and improve its development approvals process, with the goal of becoming the most housing-friendly city in the country,” said Jason Burggraaf, Executive Director of GOHBA. “While the market has been stuck in a very long period of low activity, it is critical that the City remain committed to these reforms. When demand returns, these improvements will allow us to scale up housing construction more quickly and efficiently.”
New data from the Missing Middle Initiative shows that Ottawa has lost families to surrounding communities over the past decade.
“While the region as a whole continues to gain people from elsewhere in Ontario, a growing share are choosing communities outside Ottawa’s municipal boundaries in search of more suitable and affordable housing,” says Mike Moffatt, Founding Director of the Missing Middle Initiative.
“The City of Ottawa itself is losing kids and mid-to-late career professionals, while gaining large numbers of college-age adults and, to a lesser extent, early career professionals,” says Moffatt. “Communities surrounding Ottawa are attracting more kids and late-career professionals, while also gaining residents across all age groups.”
A focus on housing measures at all levels of government has led to a flurry of activity recently. The province’s Bill 98 focused on building more homes faster, and the ‘Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build’ plans to reduce development charges. Minister Flack recently approved Official Plan Amendment 46 for the City, and recommended that Ottawa take measures to address the gap between growth projections in the City’s Official Plan and those of the Ministry of Finance. In addition, a Special Joint Meeting of the City of Ottawa’s Finance and Corporate Services Committee (FCSC) and Planning and Housing Committee (PHC) will take place on May 5, 2026, to review progress on the City’s Housing Acceleration Plan (HAP).
GOHBA is urging the City to remain focused on housing affordability and continue to work with other levels of government to reduce the cost of new housing supply. All actions that increase the supply of family-friendly housing within the City can help reverse current outward migration trends.
“More and more growing families are moving outside the City to find the type of housing they want,” says Burggraaf. “They are telling us with their actions that Ottawa needs to meet that market demand for ground-oriented, family-friendly homes, or we’ll continue to lose young families.”
GOHBA looks forward to continuing to work with all levels of government to get homes built and advance practical, scalable solutions to increase supply and restore affordability for current and future residents of Ottawa.
Technical Information:
MMI’s analysis compares inflows into the Ontario side of the Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) vs. the City of Ottawa. The Ottawa CMA consists of:
· City of Ottawa
· City of Clarence-Rockland
· Township of Russell
· Township of Beckwith
· Town of Mississippi Mills
· Municipality of North Grenville
· Town of Arnprior
· Township of McNab/Braeside
MEDIA CONTACT
For media inquiries please contact:
Jason Burggraaf, Executive Director
Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association
jason@gohba.ca
ABOUT THE GREATER OTTAWA HOME BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION:
The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association has been the proud voice for excellence in the home-building community since 1951 and represents over 415 companies in new home construction and professional renovation. Our industry accounts for 24,000 jobs across Ottawa, with $2.5 billion in wages and $5.0 billion in economic investment. Contact Jason Burggraaf, Executive Director, at jason@gohba.ca.