Unavailable, unaffordable: B.C. university students struggle to find housing

During the first week of school, some university students across the Lower Mainland are facing a major crisis — they don’t have anywhere to live.

There is a serious housing crunch playing out on campuses across B.C. and Canada, says Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Student Society president Emmanuel Adegboyega.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!

He says this is affecting both local and international students.

“A big issue we’re facing right now is the availability on campus. We don’t have enough beds for students who do want to stay on campus, and over the past two to three years we’ve had extensive waitlists of students wanting to be in residence, but sadly that didn’t happen due to availability,” Adegboyega explained.

He points out that those waiting lists can range from 500 to 1,000 people.

“At the student union, we’ve advocated for more beds for students because we understand how dire the situation is. Thankfully, a couple of months ago we worked with the province and were able to announce the opening of a new residence building,” he shared.

That announcement was made by Premier David Eby in July. He confirmed the construction of a new, eight-storey building that will accommodate 445 students with a mix of shared dorms, studios, and two and four-bedroom townhomes, slated to open in 2027.

---

---

Adegboyega says far too often universities will put in the effort to increase enrollment, but not develop a plan to house incoming students.

“The big challenge is availability, but a second component to that is pricing. Our university apartments do a scaling of determining prices based on [the] market.”

He explains that means students could be spending as much as $2,500 to $3,000 per semester to stay on campus.

Adegboyega says off-campus housing is a completely different story. He points out he’s hearing from students who are struggling to deal with landlords, often facing early eviction.

“We’ve seen students experience different forms of discrimination. They are being asked for specific documentation that they can’t provide, simply because they’re international students. For example, students may be asked for a credit score, or they might be asked for a reference for work experience and international students don’t have that,” he explained.

“We have some students who live on campus by going to faculty spaces or going into places that are open overnight. We’re seeing a homelessness crisis as well, simply because of the challenge of accessing off-campus housing.”

He adds others are sleeping on the streets because they don’t know anyone here and don’t have anywhere to go.

Adegboyega says the entire situation is stressful and compounded by other factors like the cost-of-living crisis, rising tuition costs, and for those on the cusp of graduation, a lack of local job opportunities.

“And we see students continuing to push for more bursaries and scholarships because of these challenges. And food security — that’s a big challenge that we’re seeing. We’ve seen the same quantity of food that we used to provide is going at a quicker rate than it used to,” Adegboyega shared.

He explains students are also often juggling a full class load while having to pick up multiple odd part-time jobs to help make ends meet.

Adegboyega feels the solution is simple — universities need more beds.

In addition to the new residence being built at SFU, the province has also partnered with the University of British Columbia (UBC) to create housing for more than 1,500 students at its main Vancouver campus. The estimated $560 million project will include five buildings, childcare spaces, and a 400-seat dining hall. Construction is slated to begin in 2026 with the project wrapping up in 2028.