City of Edmonton incentivizing student housing builds

The City of Edmonton is hoping to encourage cheaper housing options for post-secondary students with a new program.

The new Downtown Student Housing Incentive is offering a total of $15 million for designs that meet student housing needs and are built in the downtown area.

Developers are eligible for up to $30,000 per unit built.

“Students make almost 47,000 of the population in the downtown core and we want to create opportunities in the downtown for them to have affordable places to live,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said.

1:34 Calls from post-secondary student unions for more funding

Thousands of students will soon be returning to Edmonton’s post-secondary campuses.

Student unions say rent is one of the biggest pressures on budgets.

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“The campus food bank usage at the University of Alberta has increased by 600 per cent over the last five years and the number one reason why students are coming to campus food bank is housing increases,” said Adbul Abassi, the University of Alberta Students’ Union’s vice-president external.

2:01 High post-secondary expenses leave Edmonton students in a pinch

The cost of rent is a concern for Andrea Velasco.

Velasco is going into her fourth year of university and says she’s always looking for better deals.

“I have moved three times,” Velasco said. “Now I live closer to campus, so I live in a basement because it’s more affordable for me to pay rent.”

The city says the incentive is projected to create more than 500 new housing units.

“This is a good step. Of course a lot more is needed,” Abbasi said.

The first round of applications closes at the end of September. Construction to start next year.