Now, Planned Parenthood Ottawa is facing an unprecedented financial disaster. This predicament is prompting the institution to make extreme cuts that endanger its nearly 200-year presence in the community. The organization, which has been serving the Ottawa area for over six decades, has recently had to lay off all six of its front-line staff due to a lack of funding. With only Lyra Evans as the new executive director and the sole staff member, Planned Parenthood Ottawa is navigating an uncertain future.
The organization doesn’t have any core funding to speak of, mostly depending on grants and community members’ donations. Evans noted the pressing need for community support, stating, “If the community turned around and said … they want to live in a city with a Planned Parenthood, and we saw an influx of individual donations or monthly donors, then we would be able to look at keeping everything exactly the way it was a year ago.”
Funding Concerns and Future Prospects
Despite its long history and lifesaving services, Planned Parenthood Ottawa doesn’t receive the funding it needs to keep its doors open. Today, Ottawa Public Health is their only significant financial backer, and they have budgeted just $79,000 for 2024 to help them ramp up programming. By comparison, the local organization was only able to get $45,734 of its funding from Ottawa Public Health in 2023.
Evans emphasized the financial challenges, saying, “Of our six front-line staff, we’ve had to lay off all six.” In the wake of these layoffs, the organization has been forced to go through draconian belt-tightening efforts. Planned Parenthood Ottawa is hopeful to receive more grants in February. Specifically, this new funding may be their ticket out of this perpetual cash flow crisis.
Community Impact and Service Demand
This health centre has been instrumental in providing vital sexual and reproductive health services, including free materials and supplies – like condoms and pregnancy tests. It also acts as an important hub for providing educational workshops in local schools, as well as resources for those pursuing gender-affirming care. Now as demand for these services has increased dramatically, the financial woes now pose an existential threat to their continued availability.
Dr. Lesley Spencer frequently refers her patients to Planned Parenthood Ottawa for services like pregnancy testing and STI screenings, highlighting its diverse role in the community. She noted, “I know that there are a couple of religion-based places that do sliding scale counselling, but not everybody’s comfortable going to a religious … counselling service.” That fact underscores the special role that Planned Parenthood plays in ensuring all people can still access vital reproductive health care.
Dr. Sukhbir Singh, head of obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn care at The Ottawa Hospital, echoed this sentiment, stating, “For family planning or reproductive health, we need [Planned Parenthood Ottawa].” Healthcare professionals are ever more relying on the organization for their education. As this dependence increases, the prospect of a long-term, predictable, sustainable funding source is critically needed.
The Bigger Picture
The financial stress being experienced by Planned Parenthood Ottawa is in many ways symptomatic of a larger movement that is crippling other similar organizations across the country. This dependence on grant funding and community support highlights the fragility of services that communities need for good health and well-being.
As Planned Parenthood Ottawa continues to find its way through this tricky transition, it hopes to involve the community in helping shape its future. With improved community support and a growing base of monthly donations, Evans hopes that Ottawa’s vital work can return to strengthening Ottawa’s fabric.
