Up to 6,000 additional military housing units are needed to meet the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces. Given this persistent shortage, families are forced to live in conditions they consider inadequate.
As a military wife and mother of two young children, Kelly Lambert is exhausted and at the end of her tether. “It’s tight,” she says, pointing to her living room, which doubles as a dining room and sometimes even a playroom.
Ms. Lambert holds her seven-month-old baby and explains that she no longer knows what to do to get larger military housing. The situation has been untenable since the birth of his daughter. She no longer counts how often she has to move furniture, baby supplies, or toys to carry out her daily activities.
The property where her family lives has three bedrooms, one of which serves as an office for the days her partner telecommutes. The kitchen is narrow and only has space for a small table.
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There’s barely room for a table in the kitchen of Kelly Lambert’s military quarters.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Simon Lasalle
Since there is no dining room, Kelly Lambert and her partner eat meals on the sofa in the living room. Her four-year-old son is eating at the living room table, which is anything but ideal for developing good social and eating habits, worries the mother.
[On a] He has great difficulty eating, he is very hyperactive and it is difficult for him to keep him sitting there, notes Ms. Lambert. Because the living room doubles as a playroom, she said, it’s sometimes hard for her son to understand that playtime is over and it’s time to eat.
Kelly Lambert’s social life is also affected. I find it uncomfortable [de] Receiving people here says the person who lives at the former Uplands military base near Ottawa International Airport.
There is a certain shame associated with the fact that we don’t have the space.
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The disorder in the rooms makes everyday life in this military accommodation difficult.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Simon Lasalle
Kelly Lambert’s house is 91 square meters. The neighboring unit, which had the same configuration, was renovated by the Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) in 2010 and converted into a two-bedroom unit.
Size standards for military housing
| Size of the household | Living space (square feet) | number of bedrooms |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 650 – 1200 | 1-2 |
| 2 | 750 – 1900 | 2-3 |
| 3 | 900 – 2100 | 3-4 |
| 4 | 950 – 2200 | 3-4 |
| 5+ | 1200 – 2500 | 4 |
Source: Canadian Forces Housing Agency
With 145 military shelters, Ottawa is one of the smallest of the Canadian Armed Forces’ 27 shelters across the country.
No movement in sight
Knowing she wanted to have children, Kelly Lambert claims she took steps to obtain larger military housing in 2018. However, the only official steps she can trace date back to 2020.
In an email, a copy of which was obtained by Radio-Canada, CFHA interim regional manager Jodi McFadden confirmed that Ms. Lambert is entitled to a larger accommodation. However, in the Ottawa region, demand for a [logement militaire] is very high and the Housing Services Center was rarely able to assign it to Priority 2 members due to the large waiting list, as we can read in the same document.
Accommodation is on a first come, first served basis. Before CFHA allocates housing to members on Priority Lists 2 and 3, it must provide housing to all individuals on Priority List 1.
- Priority list 1 : Military personnel permitted to relocate at public expense, foreign military personnel, or participants in an exchange program
- Priority list 2 : Military personnel moving to the same region
- Priority list 3 : Federal employees looking to move into military housing
Source: Department of Defense Housing Guidelines
The likelihood that your family and a large number of other families will be on the waiting list [obtienne un logement] is virtually unlikely, a customer service representative at the Ottawa Housing Services Center also stated electronically. As discouraging as this may sound, it is reality.
Kelly Lambert says she understands the standards and guidelines in place. However, she believes that the management of military housing is inhumane and should be better adapted to families.
The young mother dreams of having another child, but knows that the project cannot be realized in the current situation. “We couldn’t afford it right now, it would just be unrealistic, I wouldn’t even know where to put it,” she sighs.
An ongoing problem
The Department of Defense recognizes that the shortage of military housing is problematic. In an email, spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin confirmed that 4,000 to 6,000 additional housing units are still needed to meet national needs.
Esquimalt, Trenton, Kingston, Ottawa and Petawawa are the five cities with the longest waiting lists in the country.
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With 145 military shelters, Ottawa is one of the smallest of the Canadian Armed Forces’ 27 shelters across the country.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Estelle Côté-Sroka
In 2017, the Canadian Forces Housing Agency planned to build 1,300 new housing units over ten years. However, only 133 units have been built so far, Ms. Poulin testified.
We are exploring alternatives to gain access to other apartments.
Given the widespread housing shortage across the country, senior leadership at the Ministry of Defense has made the decision [tente de trouver] short-term solutions and resources to respond to the challenges facing members of the Canadian Armed Forces, says Ms. Poulin.
Government rental housing and public-private partnerships are among those being considered for the cities of Kingston, Trenton, Edmonton and Borden.
Inadequate management
In 2016, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada highlighted that the management of military housing was problematic. The Defense Department did not know how much additional housing was needed. Around 1,500 apartments were empty. Furthermore, Ottawa did not know the condition of the apartments and had no modernization plan.
The Ministry of Defense plans to complete the review of its military housing policy and clearly define its needs by the end of the year, assures spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin.
However, contrary to the Auditor General’s recommendations, Ottawa has still not developed adequate plans specifying the work to be undertaken, the timeframe for completing that work and the resources required to meet those requirements.
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The Canadian Forces Housing Agency is based at the National Defense Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Benoit Roussel
In its most recent annual report, the Canadian Forces Housing Agency highlighted that the number of military housing units in poor condition is increasing. The number of units in subpar condition increased from 1,957 in 2021 to 2,148 in 2022.
There are nearly 12,000 military housing units across the country. These are home to 17% of the members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Real estate market not very accessible
With real estate prices and interest rates rising, many soldiers will make the tradeoff of staying in their homes [pour éviter de payer plus cher]analyzes Louis-Philippe Binette, real estate agent for Royal Lepage Vallée de l’Outaouais.
Mr. Binette served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 32 years and 75% of his clientele are military personnel. He explains that many people waiting for military housing have resigned themselves to finding a house […] something smaller for their needs or decide to switch to the rental market entirely.
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Several people waiting for military housing are content to “find a house.” […] “A little smaller for their needs” or they decide to enter the rental market entirely, according to one real estate agent.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Lars Hagberg
Tristan Pelletier, a real estate agent who specializes in military clients in Ottawa, also receives calls from people surprised by the shortage of military housing.
The Ottawa market is starting to be a little more balanced than in recent years, observes RE/MAX broker Hallmark Ottawa. However, he notes that the situation remains particularly difficult for those looking to buy their first home and without cash. It’s difficult to get out of there and enter the market, says Mr. Pelletier.
Louis-Philippe Binette encourages military personnel who need to live a certain distance from their workplace to request accommodations from their chain of command to cross those limits to find cheaper housing.
Quit the army to get by?
Kelly Lambert is considering different options to give her children a better quality of life.
Since Ms. Lambert’s partner’s position requires him to live some distance from his workplace, the couple’s options would be limited when deciding whether to purchase a house.
That’s annoying [et] disappointing.
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Kelly Lambert has the dream of having another child, but knows that the project cannot be realized in the current context.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Simon Lasalle
Kelly Lambert would like to live in the same neighborhood to prevent her son from changing schools, but also because she likes the community spirit between military families.
However, her husband does not rule out leaving the Canadian Armed Forces to resolve the situation. This would allow the family to purchase a decent sized home at a cheaper price.
It’s stressful, admits Kelly Lambert. She knows that time is running out because her accommodation will become even more unsuitable if her daughter runs away.