Ontario Native Women’s Association   25
JURISDICTION & ACCOUNTABILITY
That is why OAHS officials have a strategy 
lined up to bring in government partners 
outside of traditional housing ministries. 
They’re looking to build relationships with 
those in the health, justice, child welfare 
and social assistance sectors.
“Everyone has a role to play to reduce 
their investments in that reactive aspect 
of their systems and to put them into the 
proactive solutions that we know can have 
positive effects in each of those different 
sectors,” Combot says.
Cathy Connor, OAHS’s senior director 
of development, also realizes that a lack 
of housing can lead to other issues. For 
example, those who are homeless may also 
be dealing with alcohol or drug addictions.
“What we’ve noticed and what we’ve 
seen – and it is common sense as well – if 
you have no home, how do you apply for a 
job?” Connor says. “How can you get a job? 
How can you go back to school? How can 
you do anything when you don’t have an 
address to be able to put on a form?”
Connor also says placing a roof over one’s 
head, while welcome, does not immedi-
ately resolve all of one’s issues. “Many 
times, [because of] the traumas that 
they’ve endured on the streets, they can’t 
live independently yet until they get some 
support,” she says.
That is why OAHS representatives realize 
they alone cannot solve bigger prob-
lems. “When we’re building supportive 
housing, our service providers are much 
more important to us because our forte 
is building, operating and property 
managing housing,” Connor says. “We 
are not the service providers that can 
work with our tenants that need 24/7 
support. So, we use the service providers 
to support the tenants within there, and 
we don’t start to build supportive housing 
unless we have our service providers 
entered into a contract with OAHS and 
they have the ability to be able to provide 
long-term services.”
As for Combot, she’s hoping the current 
lacklustre state of Indigenous housing in 
Ontario will improve in the coming years. 
“I am optimistic that, through the amazing 
work that’s happening, governments will 
clue into the fact that these solutions are 
working and should be invested in so 
that we can create models that are even 
more affordable, even more accessible 
and expanded across the province,” she 
concludes. “I do have hope. But I think 
it’s been a really difficult journey, and 
continues to be, because we just haven’t 
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had that willing partnership from any level 
of government.”
Combot’s hope isn’t unfounded. Currently 
under development, Ontario Aboriginal 
Housing Services’ “10,000 Homes by 2034” 
province-wide Indigenous housing growth 
plan represents a forthcoming, large-scale 
Indigenous-led housing growth plan that 
will soon be advanced to federal, provincial 
and municipal partners across Canada. 
Designed to respond to the urgent and 
growing housing crisis facing First Nations, 
Métis and Inuit people living off-reserve, 
the plan outlines a coordinated, province-
wide approach to delivering thousands 
of new homes through multiple streams, 
while strengthening partnerships and 
long-term community capacity. This work, 
led by Combot and the Senior Executive 
Council at OAHS, reflects a forward-
looking vision grounded in collaboration, 
economic impact and self-determination 
– positioning the organization to play a 
central leadership role in shaping the next 
phase of Indigenous housing solutions in 
Ontario and beyond. •

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