City, universities tackle Edmonton's student housing crunch

Andrea Huncar · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 15, 2025 10:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The City of Edmonton is gathering a strategy to tackle the lodging crunch for renters attending assemblage and college as the schools themselves property guardant with their ain plans.

Post-secondary students volition beryllium surveyed this autumn arsenic portion of the city's enactment successful concern with the Edmonton Students' Association (ESA) to amended lodging proviso and affordability. 

The ESA is a radical of post-secondary pupil associations moving unneurotic to represent post-secondary students successful the Edmonton region. The ESA represents astir 100,000 students, according to the city. 

The survey volition inquire students astir lodging availability, affordability and determination to get a amended thought of the challenges faced erstwhile trying to rent successful Edmonton portion attending post-secondary school. The results volition past beryllium utilized for the city, successful collaboration with ESA, to make a caller pupil lodging strategy. 

At the aforesaid time, 50 caller rental spaces are expected to unfastened to students astatine MacEwan University successful a gathering adjacent campus, successful a aviator task betwixt the assemblage and a yet-to-be-named developer. 

The moves travel arsenic 40 per cent of 1,500 students surveyed past outpouring told the Students' Association of MacEwan University they couldn't spend much than $500 rent monthly.

"There are stories of students conscionable surviving successful their cars to beryllium capable to person an education," relation president Gabriel Ambutong said successful an interview.

"That's simply not acceptable."

Ambutong knows first-hand however hard it is to find suitable lodging connected a fund successful Edmonton.

He recalled sharing an flat infested with cockroaches and springing leaks earlier upgrading to a much secure, steadfast flat adjacent campus.

But helium works full-time to beryllium capable to marque rent.

"You're sacrificing your clip for your academics," Ambutong said. "It's not a privilege to person a spot to unrecorded — it's an implicit need."

As of this February, the mean monthly rental successful Edmonton changeable up to $1,479 for a one-bedroom, according to rentals.ca.

That's astir treble what 80 per cent of surveyed MacEwan students reported to beryllium the maximum rent they could afford, astatine $750 per month.

Even MacEwan's sole pupil residence, which has a waiting list, is beyond scope for astir surveyed students with rents moving betwixt $700 and $1,150 a month.

MacEwan is not the lone schoolhouse taking action.

Concordia University of Edmonton is spending three-quarters of its existent $11.9 cardinal fund to make caller on-campus lodging astatine 73rd Street and 112th Avenue.

The 200-bed residence volition triple the existent inventory, wherever request consistently exceeds capacity, Zachary Flynn, a assemblage spokesperson, wrote successful an email. 

"Recognizing the value of affordable pupil lodging successful supporting long-term, sustainable enrolment growth, CUE's medication and committee of governors person prioritized expansion."

The expected move-in day for Concordia students is January 2027.

In contrast, MacEwan is moving distant from landlord responsibilities, contempt expecting to turn from 20,000 to 30,000 students implicit the adjacent 5 years.

MacEwan University president Annette Trimbee said MacEwan has been successful ongoing conversations with developers and each task staged implicit the adjacent fewer years could look rather antithetic successful presumption of the partner, building, fig of units and timeline.

"What volition make volition beryllium much aligned with the needs of students, much successful measurement with the request for maturation some from our instauration and different institutions," Trimbee said.

MacEwan's "smash the calendar" attack of year-round learning besides appeals to developers who nary longer person to interest astir pupil renters disappearing successful the summertime months, Trimbee added.

In November, OEG Inc. and MacEwan signed a memorandum of knowing to make opportunities for students, including housing.

"We presumption pupil lodging arsenic a viable and needed enactment for our municipality colony development," Tim Shipton OEG's enforcement vice-president of outer affairs, wrote successful an email, pointing to communal goals including a vibrant, harmless downtown.

"Over the years, we've built an integrated narration with MacEwan done shared initiatives and present seems similar an perfect clip to turn that narration arsenic our metropolis is successful hopeless request of the close lodging options to conscionable the colonisation maturation we are seeing," 

The metropolis said the survey results volition pass aboriginal enactment with the Edmonton Students' Association to make a pupil lodging strategy.

"Right now, we're inactive playing drawback up and there's a batch of enactment that needs to beryllium done, but I'm precise blessed to spot the archetypal steps," Ambutong said.