The changing face of Ottawa
Ottawa is growing and changing rapidly. With rapid growth also come challenges — challenges that United Way/Centraide Ottawa and its community partners recognize and are working hard to meet.

Some facts:

• Close to 1,000 people are chronically homeless.
• More than 35,000 aboriginals live in Ottawa; many are affected by poverty, chronic homelessness, poor health and cultural isolation.
• More than 75,000 people in Ottawa have a disability, and 60 per cent of these encounter barriers to participation and inclusion.
• Close to 40,000 children and youth live in poverty.
• Families are the fastest-growing users of homeless shelters and food banks.
• Almost half of Ottawa’s 132,400 seniors — many of them women — live on incomes of $20,000 or less, and 23,000 seniors live alone.
• More than one in five residents is an immigrant, and almost half of those who are recent immigrants either do not work or make under $10,000 a year.