January 2023 – January 2025
Championing affordable housing & housing affordability
Affordable homes. Sensible growth. Stronger communities.
Make Housing Affordable leadership, city hall delegations, and ongoing pro-housing advocacy in Ottawa.
Make Housing Affordable is a grassroots pro-housing advocacy group in Ottawa, founded in 2021 to fight back against the policies and processes that keep housing scarce and expensive.
I joined the board in January 2023, after meeting the group during my 2022 mayoral campaign, and served as President & Chair through January 2025.
In addition to MHA, I am a member of Strong Towns Ottawa, a community of advocates pushing for a more financially resilient and livable Ottawa.
With Strong Towns, I've canvassed in support of housing affordability, public transit, and sustainable city building. I am also an eager participant in the Ottawa Urbanism Book Club as often as my schedule allows.
The through-line from my mayoral run to MHA and Strong Towns to the Carleton campaign is the same: Ottawa and Ontario need more homes, smarter zoning, and citizens willing to show up consistently for evidence-based policy, housing or otherwise.
Wed, Jun 24 – Thu, Jun 25
Impact Hub Ottawa, 123 Slater St.
Common Wealth Canada meetup on housing, land, and affordability. With partners including Make Housing Affordable, the Henry George Foundation of Canada, and the Ottawa Community Land Trust.
Mon, Jun 29 · 10:15 PM – 11:45 PM
Sunnyside Library, Program Room 1 (basement)
Discussing Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck. Reading is optional; all are welcome.
Housing is one of the defining issues of our generation, and too many politicians at every level have made it worse through inaction, exclusionary zoning, funding cuts, demand subsidies, and consultation processes that reward obstruction.
Make Housing Affordable exists to change that. The organization coordinates pro-housing delegations to Ottawa's Planning and Housing Committee, publishes policy proposals, rates candidates on housing platforms, and builds community buy-in for the homes Ottawa needs.
Traditionally, the people passionate enough to delegate to a committee show up to block projects. MHA flips that script, ensuring councillors and staff hear positive feedback for good projects and that supportive voices are organized, informed, and persistent.
MHA is a volunteer-based advocacy organization. A passionate group of Ottawans who care deeply about their community and dream of an affordable life for themselves and their families, working together to change how Ottawa plans, zones, and builds housing.
Regular coordinated delegations to Ottawa's Planning and Housing Committee, offering pro-housing testimony that counters the default pattern of project opposition.
During the 2022 municipal election, MHA met with mayoral and council candidates, recorded their housing positions, and published stoplight ratings so voters could see who was serious about building homes.
The Six Big Moves and Housing Action Plan laid out concrete steps for Ottawa to take action on housing affordability.
Group discussions with councillors, advocacy events partnered with organizations like the Alliance to End Homelessness, and ongoing outreach to build a broader pro-housing coalition.
Meetings with municipal, provincial, and federal representatives to push for zoning reform, better housing targets, and funding tools that match the scale of the crisis.
Throughout 2024, MHA focused on Ottawa's zoning by-law review, submitting feedback to the city, advocating for bold steps to legalize missing-middle housing, and pushing for an end to the R1 single-family exclusivity zone that covers nearly half the city.
Over the last term of council, thanks in part to our advocacy, the city has:
But not everything has been good. Since 2022, the city has also:
Parking Reform Network · February 12, 2026
Maclean's · March 17, 2025
CFRA Ottawa · December 12, 2023
Capital Chill · November 24, 2023
Ottawa Citizen · November 3, 2023
CityNews Ottawa · October 12, 2023
CBC News · March 2, 2023
CityNews Ottawa · January 26, 2023
Ottawa Citizen · January 3, 2023
Make Housing Affordable is ongoing volunteer advocacy. Join the Discord, sign the petition, or reach out to the board if you want to delegate, donate, or help build Ottawa's pro-housing coalition.
Visit makehousingaffordable.ca