Ottawa students rush to find affordable apartments ahead of fall term

As the school year approaches, university students are scrambling to secure rental accommodations.

"I basically was browsing for months," said Megan Manary, a University of Ottawa student.

Manary, starting her second year at the university, managed to secure an apartment just blocks away from campus; however, the cost of her rental is substantial.

"The place I'm at now, it's literally just a bedroom and a shared space and it's like $900," she said.

This cost is below the average price of a two-bedroom unit in the city, but with school starting in about two weeks, many students are rushing to secure accommodations. Some say that not only are these rentals harder to find, but they are also becoming more expensive.

"Very stressful. My old lease was up at the end of June, and I had nowhere to put my stuff so we're just taking it out of storage today," says Manary.

For parents like Lisa Manary, the challenges extend beyond finding housing.

"It's very difficult to kind of navigate what's affordable, what's safe," Lisa said.

Lisa's experience is shared by many parents who are grappling with submitting multiple applications to various landlords, often without success. Some landlords' strict requirements further complicate the process.

"One of them asked for three co-signers, which was bizarre. They wanted social insurance numbers. They wanted far too much information," Lisa explained.

Steve Pomeroy, a housing policy professor at Carleton University, spoke about the broader issue. The cost of a two-bedroom unit has gone up 15 per cent year over year to about $1,200 per person, largely due to limited availability.

"In the short term, there isn't really a fix," Pomeroy says. "We've tripled the number of folks coming to the city. We haven't tripled housing production."

For some, like the Blake sisters, living in their place for more than three years, the situation is better. They pay approximately $650 per month each, locking in that price almost four years ago.

Dana Blake is just happy she isn’t looking for a place right now.

"Landlords are asking for a lot more money now. Deposits and stuff that don't even go back into your rent," Blake said.

Despite the difficulties, Megan Manary is relieved to have secured housing.

"I messaged probably about a dozen different landlords, they never got back to me," says Manary. "But all in all, there just wasn't a lot of options available." 

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