Construction begins on Douglas College’s 20-storey student housing building

More than 350 students will be able to live on campus at Douglas College, the province says, as construction on a 20-storey student housing building gets underway.

The B.C. government says the project is one of the largest capital investments in student housing in the province.

“One of the biggest challenges facing students today is finding a safe, secure, and affordable place to live close to campus,” said Premier David Eby. “That’s why our government is building new student housing at an unprecedented pace, including the very first student residence at Douglas College.

“This integrated student housing and academic building … will allow students to live where they learn and significantly reduce pressure on the local rental market.”

The project was originally announced in August 2022, with construction initially expected to begin in summer 2023. Students are now expected to move into the building come fall 2027, a year later that originally planned.

The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills explains the building will house 368 students in a mix of one-, two-, and four-bedroom units.

The building will also include classrooms, collaboration spaces, labs, offices, parking, and food services.

The project is being funded in conjunction will the college, with the province providing just over $200 million to the almost-$300-million project.

The province says this project will add an more than 1,000 direct jobs and nearly 900 indirect jobs.

Eby says the new building is part of an effort to ramp up student housing before 2030.

“Today, we have 7,700 student beds that are either open or underway,” he said. “Our success in working with post-secondary institutions across the province to get this housing built allowed us to be even more ambitious in our targets. So we increased that 10-year target from 8,000 to 12,000 beds by 2028.”

The B.C. government says the 2024 Budget provides $43 billion in capital funding for schools.

But the Alliance of BC Students says it’s disappointed with what the budget has in store.

In late January, the federal government capped admissions for international students, who pay tuition fees much higher than what locals pay.

“I think they definitely could have done more for students,” said Manpreet Kaur, chairperson of the alliance. “Because of the recent uncertainties regarding the cap on international students, and how institutions will fund their deficits, students have been worried about where the money will come from for post-secondary institutions, and international students in particular are worried that their tuition fees might go up.”

Eby wouldn’t say if the government has plans to make all the new student housing coming online more affordable for international students, but maintains the province is doing a lot to support them.

“For public institutions, we’ve taken steps to support international students by ensuring consistent tuition year and after year, that there won’t be a sudden increase in their expenses, in their second or third year after they’ve set out their budgets going forward,” he said.

But with the high cost of international tuition, Kaur says she hopes the government follows through in the coming years to make student housing more effective.

“While these projects that the government highlighted in the budget are helpful for students, not all of them are recently funded,” said Kaur. “Some of them were started before, and we appreciate that, but we just want to see the continuity, because student housing was in a good place once, and got really, really bad. And now we’re starting to catch up.”

In the meantime Mitchie Nguyen, a commerce and business administration student, says she’s looking forward to visiting the new housing at Douglas College when it’s all done.

“I’m excited for the impact it’s going to have on the students, especially when they don’t have to travel such a long way to get to school, then have to stay so late for classes, and the is going to be easier on them as well.”

With files from Kier Junos.