Students face residence waitlists, few options for housing in Calgary

A recent article from discusses the dire situation faced by postsecondary students in need of housing. The University of Calgary, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and Mount Royal University have waitlists of 740, 100, and 50 students, respectively. MRU states that the demand is unprecedented, as the university has not had a waitlist for on-campus housing before. UCalgary is tackling the issue with a variety of initiatives, including offering landlords the opportunity to post on a student rental website for free, helping students find off-campus accommodations, and running ad campaigns to inform Calgarians about the situation. UCalgary’s student union is calling for the Calgary city council to approve all recommendations from the Housing Affordability Task Force.