Ottawa’s housing department is under fire after documents showed it spent more than $97,000 to send dozens of managers to a two-day homelessness conference in Montréal — an outing officials defended as a chance for “inspiration” and visibility.Blacklock's Reporter says Access To Information records revealed the department spent $33,600 on hotels, $8,857 on restaurant meals and $17,910 on travel. In total, 47 managers attended, 16 fewer than initially planned. Nine senior executives flew round-trip from Ottawa while others took VIA Rail.A memo promoting the trip claimed the conference “arms policymakers, funders, researchers, advocates, community leaders and front line workers with inspiration.” The event ran from October 28 to 30. When pressed to justify the bill, executives said the goal was “to raise awareness,” and argued the department had to be “highly visible” at the country’s largest homelessness conference..Another briefing note said the presence of federal staff would “highlight important work underway” and help shape the government’s next steps on reducing chronic homelessness. It added that the trip gave managers a chance to observe local initiatives from across Canada.The cost of the Montréal trip was 10% higher than expenses for a smaller delegation that attended a similar conference in Halifax the previous year. Internal notes acknowledged that managers showed more interest in travelling to Québec and that travel prices were higher because of the Montréal location.An October 4, 2024 departmental briefing counted 118,329 shelter users nationwide and estimated up to 32,660 people were chronically homeless.The 2026 Census will, for the first time, ask Canadians if they have lived in vehicles, abandoned buildings or temporary arrangements with friends or family because they had nowhere else to go. Statistics Canada said the new questions are intended to shed light on Canadians facing “significant social and housing challenges.”
