Calgary post-secondary schools at max capacity in ongoing housing crisis

For another year, Calgary’s housing crisis has made its way onto campuses with three of the biggest post secondaries already at max capacity.

Ermia Rezaei-Afsah, the president of the University of Calgary Student Union, says it’s the fourth year that it has been completely full.

And with a completely saturated rental market, there aren’t even affordable options nearby.

“There are 3,000 spots in residence, but there’s 1,000 students at the moment on wait lists, so it’s at max capacity,” he told 660 NewsRadio.

“They (students) don’t have many affordable options to them, so either they have to rent out super far away students living as far as Ogden or McKenzie town, or unsafe living conditions or crowded housing.”

He says it is starting to feel all too familiar

“Every year, it’s too late and too little. This seems to be no end in sight, unfortunately, no short-term solutions are being developed by the institutions that are supposed to be taking care of these students,” he said.

And they’re not the only ones in the max capacity club.

Mark Keller is the director of resident services at Mount Royal University, and he says it’s the second year they are expecting to have all 950 dorm rooms spoken for.

“We are running a small wait list right now. We are hoping that as we get cancellations in and things like that, that we can get through as much of that list as possible,” he said.

He explains MRU’s housing situation is fluid with cancellations and applications still coming in daily. Currently, he says the waitlist has been hovering between 20 and 30 people.

“We get some applications most days. And so as things change, we are getting offers out to students as soon as possible, once a space opens up for now,” Keller said.

“Given the fact that we are looking to be full, that likely means they’ll be on the waitlist, but they can apply, and we will do the best we can to get students off the wait list and into housing as best we can once we once we know what our numbers look like after move-in day.”

SAIT residents are also operating on a waitlist. According to its website, they can’t guarantee residence to any applicants who haven’t already received their residence acceptance letter.

The University of Calgary says students on the waitlist for residence are regularly asked to update their housing needs “to help determine if they are still seeking a living space on campus.”

As of August 16, the university says 148 students are on the waitlist.