Post-secondary students face campus housing squeeze in Calgary

Post secondary housing options are at full capacity in Calgary.

For the first time in a decade Mount Royal University says all 950 of its residency options are reserved. With the school confirming its logjam Tuesday, MRU joins the University of Calgary and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in the ‘no vacancy club.’

“I think the main driving factor is the rental market in Calgary,” said MRU director of residence services Mark Keller. “I think a lot of students who would be looking to maybe live off-campus are finding it hard to find accommodations off campus; particularly affordable accommodations.”

Despite the squeeze, MRU is still encouraging students to join its housing waitlist… with potential cancellations,

Keller says more room is likely come September, but students at other post secondaries aren’t seeing as much optimism. According to SAIT, there are roughly 100 students on its housing waitlist. UCalgary meanwhile, is approaching 750 excess applications.

“Students have now been notified, you know, ‘If you’re getting this message, you’re not going to get a place in residence,'” said UCalgary students’ union president Shaziah Jinnah Morsette.

Instead, students are being encouraged to explore alternative housing options, but given the nature of Calgary’s volatile rental market, Jinnah Morsette says some scholars are facing sacrifices.

“We’ve seen that graduate students are finding that they’re reserving Airbnbs for their first months here because they’re already not finding housing,” she added.