University of Calgary Students’ Union pushes for affordable housing as rents rise

The University of Calgary Students’ Union is pushing for more affordable housing in the city as more and more students are housing insecure.

In a release issued Tuesday morning, the union said many students are living in unsafe spaces and even in their cars because rent is unaffordable.

According to Rentals.ca’s latest rent report, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,658 a month, a 12.7 per cent increase year-over-year.

Mateusz Salmassi, the union’s vice-president external, urged Calgarians to rent to students.

“For the second year in a row, we’ve got residences on campus completely full,” he told Global News. “Meanwhile, the university is planning to increase enrolment by about 1000 students per year until 2030, with no plans to actually invest in and expand residences on residence units on campus.”

Salmassi added the university’s development, University District, is largely unaffordable for students.

He said the union will be pushing Calgary city council to immediately implement all recommendations from its Housing Affordability Task Force.

“(The university) completely missed a massive opportunity to invest in affordable housing for students,” he said.

“We’re encouraging Calgarians to help us push back against the housing crisis and find places to live for students. If you have any kind of rentable suite, whether it’s a backyard suite or a basement suite, or any kind of rental unit, we are encouraging folks to go to the student’s unions housing board.

“We need city councillors to do the right thing and actually pass those recommendations and implement all of them.”

In a statement to Global News, the University of Calgary said it is aware of the ongoing housing crisis across Canada.

A waitlist has been created for students who are looking for on-campus housing but residence spaces are full for the upcoming school year, the university said. In the meantime, the school is helping students find off-campus accommodations by directing students to its off-campus housing website and by putting ads in community newsletters.