Government to use nine more Ottawa-area properties for housing

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The federal government will soon add 14 more properties across the country to use for housing, including seven in Ottawa and two in Gatineau.

According to a government source not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, officials will announce on Friday that the properties will join the Canada Public Land Bank—a list of dozens of federal addresses that the government hopes to lease to developers.

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Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is expected to make the announcement at 9 a.m. alongside B.C. member of Parliament Terry Beech and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland at her weekly economic update press conference.

The three most significant projects in Ottawa, according to the source, are near Hurdman station and could allow for almost 5,000 new housing units to be created.

The properties include Hurdman North, a parcel west of Riverside Drive and south of Highway 417, which will open up a potential of 4,000 units; 315 Terminal Ave., which could house 300 units; and 1460 Riverside Dr., which could have space for up to 500 units.

The addition of the new properties will bring the total number listed in the federal land bank to 70. In August, the federal government launched the land bank as a new tool to identify properties that could potentially be converted into housing. At the time, the federal government said it had plans to convert 22 of its Ottawa properties into homes.

Many of the original 56 properties across the country were listed as housing solutions in Budget 2024. As Canada’s largest landowner, the government has promised to reduce its office building portfolio by 50 per cent, saying that half of its office space is underused or vacant.

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In April, the Liberals also announced a larger housing plan, which aims to create 3.87 million new homes by 2031. It hopes to unlock 250,000 new homes.

Several of the Ottawa-area sites on the land bank list, including the Jackson Building and the Edward Drake Building, were already in the disposal process as of May 2023. One of the sites that was on that list—the Asticou Centre at 241 Blvd. Cité des Jeunes in Gatineau—has since been transferred to the Government of Quebec and the National Capital Commission to build a 600-bed hospital.

The government and the City of Ottawa signed an agreement earlier this year to use the Graham Spry Building at 250 Lanark Ave., which was also on that list, for an emergency homeless shelter.

According to the land bank, two Ottawa properties—Tawadina Road/Wanaki Road and the former CFB Rockcliffe site at 370 Codd’s Rd./800 Winisik St. in Wateridge Village—are open to proposals from housing providers.

The land bank’s website states that properties are selected based on “their suitability for housing development.” The government’s aim is to have the properties leased long-term as that will let it retain some control and lower costs for developers. However, that could change for some of the properties depending on the feedback the government receives from its partners.

“We are continuing to review federal surplus and underutilized properties, as well as actively working with partners to identify more properties for development,” the land bank website states.

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