How off-campus student housing stacks up against city-wide rentals across Canada

Relentless rent increases have made finding housing a difficult part of the decision to move away from home for school. The challenges aren’t just financial either: as housing supply struggles to meet demand, students have to contend with fraught housing conditions near campuses.

Philippa Geddie, a supervising lawyer at the University of Toronto’s Downtown Legal Services, describes a culture of desperation among students. Many of them look to crowded and sometimes illegal boarding rooms just to find rent below $1,000 a month for a room.

Meanwhile, David Aizikov, a data services product manager at Rentals.ca, said on-campus housing just hasn’t kept up with growing student populations at universities across the country. The result is ever-increasing pressure on market rentals, both in major cities and student towns across Canada.

In a study of Rentals.ca data, The Globe and Mail set out to find how rental housing near major campuses compares to the cost of rental housing across the rest of the community. In some cases, rental housing within two kilometres of campus was more expensive, especially in smaller communities where students make a large percentage of the population.

Comparing rental rates near university

campuses to the rest of the city in which

they’re located

By number of bedrooms

Rentals within two kilometres of campus

(three-month average, March to May)

City-wide rates (for the month of May)

Toronto Metropolitan

University

*Rental data with fewer than 12 listings are not shown.

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL,

SOURCE: RENTALS.CA

Comparing rental rates near university

campuses to the rest of the city in which

they’re located

By number of bedrooms

Rentals within two kilometres of campus

(three-month average, March to May)

City-wide rates (for the month of May)

Toronto Metropolitan

University

*Rental data with fewer than 12 listings are not shown.

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL,

SOURCE: RENTALS.CA

Comparing rental rates near university campuses to the rest of the city in which they’re located

By number of bedrooms

Rentals within two kilometres of campus (three-month average, March to May)

City-wide rates (for the month of May)

Toronto Metropolitan

University

*Rental data with fewer than 12 listings are not shown.

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: RENTALS.CA

However in other communities such as Hamilton and Calgary, certain types of rentals near campus were actually cheaper than in the rest of the city

That doesn’t mean students are always getting a great deal in those cities. Ms. Geddie said housing near campuses can often be smaller, older and deteriorating, with landlords who are less inclined to improve the quality of their units.

Mr. Aizikov added one possible reason for the lower prices is that there is more likely to be luxurious and expensive listings in other parts of a city.

One thing is clear to both Mr. Aizikov and Ms. Geddie: rentals near campuses have skyrocketed to unimaginable levels for students.

Mr. Aizikov remembers students paying around $500 or $600 a month to share a room when he was at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2012. Today, the average listing for a three-bedroom house was just under $4,400 dollars a month, which would cost just under $1,500 per room.

“On-campus housing just hasn’t maintained its rate of growth compared to the growth of the student population, and this has created large challenges,” Mr. Aizikov said.

Below, we outline and chart some of the universities with off-campus housing that is expensive, cheap, or somewhat similar to regular rentals. To ensure a large-enough sample size, we used an average of three-month’s worth of listings near campuses, and compared them with Rentals.ca’s monthly rent report for May.

Where off-campus housing is at a premium

University of Alberta, Edmonton: expensive two- and three-bedroom units

While studios and one-bedroom apartments are priced similarly near the University of Alberta when compared with other parts of the city, two- and three-bedroom houses were noticeably more expensive at $1,845 and $2,354 respectively. That compares with $1,718 and $1,979 respectively across Edmonton. It points to increased demand for share houses near the university.

McGill University: more expensive across the board

Montreal may be known for its relatively cheap rent, but McGill’s downtown location and the city’s reputation as a student town may be why rent is more expensive near the university than in the rest of the city.

Every type of rental, from studios to three-bedroom apartments were more expensive in the vicinity of McGill, but three-bedroom units had the largest disparity: $3,256 near McGill, but $2,745 in the rest of Montreal.

University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University: three-bedroom units at a premium

Smaller units, while exceptionally expensive, were still near equal to city-wide averages for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments across Toronto. Three-bedroom units were at a premium in these downtown Toronto locations, however, and would cost roughly $1,400 per room, with the average listing for a three-bed unit sitting at just under $4,400 near TMU and $4,428 near U of T.

Where off-campus housing was cheaper

One-bedroom houses are cheaper near Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.

Rent has risen considerably in St. Catharines, Ont., since the pandemic, but one-bedroom apartments near Brock University remained at significantly lower prices at $1,195 compared with $1,698 in the rest of the city

One- and three-bedroom houses near University of Calgary

University of Calgary’s relatively suburban location could be one factor for it’s lower rental rates in the one-bed and three-bed category. Three-bed units were roughly $100 cheaper near the University of Calgary at $2,588, although that only represents a savings of roughly $33 per room.

It’s still a notable difference, as the city and province has seen high numbers of interprovincial migration since the pandemic, which has put pressure on housing supply.

One- and three-bedroom houses near McMaster University in Hamilton

One-bedroom units were only slightly cheaper in Hamilton, but three-bedroom units were considerably cheaper near McMaster at $2,349. That compares with $2,797 across the city.

Expensive cities where off-campus housing varies by property type

Carleton University: cheap one-bedroom apartments, but expensive three-bedroom share houses

One-bed apartments are noticeably cheaper near Carleton than in the rest of the city, but they are generally at a very unaffordable price of $1,603 for students, especially when they can still expect to pay roughly $1,100 per room in a three-bedroom unit near Carleton.

Queen’s University: slightly cheaper one- and two-bedroom apartments, expensive three-bedroom apartments

Kingston has a reputation as a student town, and that might play into why one-bedroom apartments are a little cheaper near Queen’s University: that apartment type is generally unaffordable for students at $1,434.

Three-bedroom units were fairly pricey near campus at $2,537 compared with $2,282 across the city.

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