Campus housing residences at capacity for next school year, students struggle to find place to live

Students are struggling to find a place to live in Calgary’s tough rental market.

For the first time ever the residences are full at the University of Calgary.

U of C says off-campus housing options have incredibly low vacancies and students’ options are very limited.

“Students are coming back to Calgary for the Fall semester and currently struggling to find rental housing. So for the first time ever University of Calgary residences are actually full and students who are waitlisted are being told they cannot be accommodated. As well, off-campus housing availability is well below pre-pandemic levels and Calgary is actually experiencing a less than 1 per cent vacancy rate.” said Nicole Schmidt, president of the Student’s Union at the University of Calgary.

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“For residences, we’re heard from the University of Calgary that they’ve received a higher than anticipated number of applications for residences for the Fall. So that’s contributing to the fact that residence spots are full and people can’t be accommodated right now,” said Schmidt.

The U of C’s Students’ Union is asking Calgarians to consider renting any type of housing to students whether it be a spare room, basement suite, apartment, or laneway housing to help students as they return to campus for the fall semester.

“What we’re asking for Calgarians is that if you have a spare room in your home, or if you have any type of suite that is safe and viable for students, please consider renting it out we do have university students who are in need of a palace to live in the Fall,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt adds that beyond the additional income from renting out their units and the tax benefits for landlords, students also provide other benefits for students such as helping out with outdoor maintenance like lawn mowing or snow shoveling services or as a companion to seniors in the community.

Schmidt says the Students Union actually has a rental housing board where landlords and tenants can post or find a rental for free until the end of August. However, postings on the board are down 80 per cent since 2019 and only 15 new listings since June and July.

“Rental increases on average have gone up by 29 per cent since 2022 which is quite a bit and combined with that it’s very hard for students to find a rental property right now [and] is definitely contributing to the fact that students are struggling somewhere to live,” said Schmidt.

Interested landlords and students can visit the University of Calgary’s Students Union rental board for students at their Places4Students website.

–With files from Chris Bowen