Mark Sutcliffe’s housing approach emphasizes increasing supply while lowering municipal barriers and project costs. His Housing Action Plan supports faster approvals, standardized requirements, broader missing-middle permissions, gentle density, transit-oriented development and easier office-to-residential conversions. He has also highlighted Ottawa’s Build Canada Homes partnership, which combines federal and municipal land and funding for 3,000 market, affordable and supportive rental homes.

In 2026 Council also approved a temporary reduction in residential development charges while the City seeks senior-government infrastructure funding. Sutcliffe presents these measures as a way to make projects financially viable while continuing affordable-housing investment. The housing category here excludes his separate homelessness and supportive-housing commitments, which are tracked under Homelessness & Supportive Housing.

Jeff Leiper’s housing platform centres on non-profit supply and preserving existing affordable rentals. He proposes 1,500 new non-profit homes per year with federal and provincial participation, using city-owned land through long-term leases rather than sales and fast-tracking non-profit builders.

He also proposes an acquisition fund to buy at-risk rental buildings and transfer or preserve them under non-profit ownership, along with proactive inspections and escalating fines for repeat property-standards violations. His approach is more focused on permanently affordable and non-profit housing than broad market incentives.

Alex Lawson’s housing plan is a market-first approach with a public fallback. He proposes cutting development charges in half for one year to stimulate two- and three-bedroom rentals, with stated target starting rents of about $1,800 for a two-bedroom and $2,200 for a three-bedroom. He also emphasizes faster approvals, less administrative delay and better conditions for smaller and medium-sized builders.

If private-sector delivery is not on track after 12 months, Lawson says the City should assemble public land, financing partners and shovel-ready projects and build directly. The environmental scan confirmed these commitments remain central to his current published platform.

Neil Saravanamuttoo proposes using Arriv Properties, the development arm of Ottawa Community Housing, to create a large public option for mixed-income, not-for-profit rental housing. He says financing and operating costs would be recovered through rents rather than ongoing municipal subsidies, with a long-term target of 25,000 to 30,000 homes.

This builds on his earlier growth position: prioritize housing in existing serviced neighbourhoods, question costly greenfield expansion such as Tewin and direct growth-related benefits back to communities that accept density. The environmental scan confirmed both the public-option proposal and his anti-sprawl/infill emphasis.