UBCO announced today it will add a new student housing facility to its campus.
Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister Melanie Mark said, “The expansion of on-campus housing at UBC’s Okanagan campus will reduce the burden in finding an affordable place to live.”
According to UBCO, the new building will have 220 units and help address a waitlist of over 1,000 students looking for affordable housing.
UBCO says the cost of the new building, named “Skeena”, will be $25 million and the province has dedicated $18.7 million as funding for the project.
UBCO students’ union president Romil Jain said, “it’s great to see the province investing in affordable student housing.”
“As a student myself, we face incredible difficulty finding affordable housing due to the lack of availability and high rental rate. With so many other pressures, the last thing students should be worried about is residence.”
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Skeena will include facilities for studying, laundry, activities and lounges.
UBCO say they are developing another housing project called “Nechako”. Once both are completed, UBCO say they will be able to offer housing to over 2,100 students.
Construction of Skeema is underway and anticipated to wrap up by summer 2020.