Halifax’s housing crisis and the rising cost of living is causing strain among post-secondary students returning to campus next month.
Terra Carter, external vice-president of the King’s Student Union at the University of King’s College, said they are hearing “extreme” concerns from students about the state of Halifax’s rental market.
“I myself was actually homeless for a month back in April, which was really difficult because I was trying to finish my exams and tests,” Carter said.
“I ended up not finishing three of my four courses. I’ve been working on them over the summer.”
Carter said the situation arose after they, a former residence don, took on the union position and was unable to continue working as a don.
They were given the option to stay on-campus, but that would have cost an extra $5,000 — “$5,000 that I didn’t have” — and they were unable to find any rentals until May.
“That shift in my ability to be housed decimated my academic semester,” Carter said, noting that they weren’t the only one with challenges in finding housing.
A one-per-cent vacancy rate and high rents have added financial stress to students, who are already paying exorbitant fees for tuition, they said. Carter said minimum wage and bursaries don’t cut it anymore to ease the strain.
“The Nova Scotia Student Bursary that all Nova Scotia residents get hasn’t been increased since, I think, 2008,” they noted. “It once covered a fifth of tuition and now it barely covers a tenth.”
Some students are also dropping courses and taking on multiple jobs so they have enough time to work to afford rent, Carter said. They said there is currently a short waitlist to live in residence at King’s, though not as high as in 2022.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that King’s residence is rather expensive, and difficult for folks of lower or middle income to be able to afford,” said Carter.
In a statement, King’s dean of students Katie Merwin said King’s, which has 267 beds, is at full occupancy for this year. There is a short waitlist of 11 students from other institutions, such as Dalhousie and NSCAD.
Merwin said the school has seen an increase in the number of returning students wanting to live on campus, “however, we don’t collect the data that would make it possible for us to speculate on the reasons behind this increase.”
Tight housing market
Next door at Dalhousie University, all 2,328 residence rooms, which largely focus on first-year students, are full.
“Dalhousie students, faculty and staff have always relied on Halifax’s broader housing market,” spokesperson Janet Bryson said in a statement.
“As the Halifax population grows, our community is experiencing the tight housing market — so of course we are looking at what we can do to address that shortage, thinking both of immediate and longer-term demands; but this work is in the very early stages.”
She said the school has a centralized resource centre for students looking for housing and rental information on its off-campus housing website. As well, the school has set up a housing channel in its mobile app ” as a place to share rental opportunities and we share resources not affiliated with the university that our students find helpful – Facebook Marketplace, Kijij, Google Maps, etc.”
The school is also asking the broader Dal community to consider renting spare rooms or units to students through Places4Students.
“We continue to ensure that our students coming to campus understand the housing market through proactive outreach. We also continue to provide a number of resources and supports to students,” Bryson said.
At Saint Mary’s University in the city’s south end, a spokesperson said residences — which can accommodate around 1,200 people — filled up earlier this year than ever before.
In an email, Margaret Murphy, associate vice-president of external affairs, said staff have been working through the wait list since April, and have been able to offer spaces to more than 150 students since then.
There is still a “small waitlist” for fall 2023, she said, adding the school is currently planning for a new residence on campus.
The students’ association for the school wants to see a centralized database created to help students find off-campus housing.
“You have to rely on informal channels like Facebook marketplace, Kijiji, etc. The listings on there aren’t verified, there is no protection against scams,” said Anubhav Gupta, vice-president of advocacy at the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association.
“That puts students in a vulnerable position.”
Gupta said he’s heard of cases where students, desperate for housing, have put deposits down on apartments “only for the listing to vanish.”
He said it’s especially tricky for international students who might not yet be aware of their rights as renters, making them more vulnerable to deposit scams and unsafe living conditions.
Gupta said on-campus residence fills up quickly and said there needs to be more resources for those looking to live off-campus.