Race is on to find student housing as fall semester approaches

During the final weeks of summer, the race is on for Ottawa post-secondary students to secure housing for the upcoming fall semester.

Many students will choose to live on campus for their first year of college and university, before moving off campus for the remainder of their schooling, but the current state of rental availability and affordability in the capital has made the hunt for housing difficult.

"Sites like Kijiji have been truly a pain to navigate," said Carleton University student Omar Shaji. "Rent prices have been going up, and sometimes landlords will just cancel showing the place. It's not been a pleasant journey."

Rentals.ca shows one-bedroom apartments near Carleton University at $1,600 a month.

"There's so many listings online and some of them aren't great and some of them are overpriced," said student Noah Blair. "Finding something that's priced well and is a nice enough place — that becomes difficult."

Most on-campus living application deadlines have passed, but Algonquin College Student Housing Coordinator Brittany Moore is continuing to help students find off-campus arrangements. She says the college is the latest post-secondary institution to partner with online home-sharing platform SpacesShared.

"Students are connected to a host based on what match per cent they are," she explained. "If it's a good fit, they can create an agreement, and then SpacesShared, as well as myself, supports the student and host throughout the duration of the agreement."

A host can book up to two rooms in a condo or house. Each month, a social worker will reach out to both student and host to ensure the arrangement is running smoothly.

Though in its early stages, Moore says the program has seen some decent uptake.

"We are still engaging with potential hosts as well as encouraging students to sign up on the platform. We want to make sure our students have as many opportunities to find off-campus housing as possible."

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

For Algonquin students Aash and Ana, they say that, if possible, living with family makes the most sense financially.

"That has been one of the most affordable options right now," said Aash.

"Rent is so high that, with the hours we are allotted and the minimum wage that we earn, I think 95 per cent of my entire monthly salary went towards rent," said Ana.

Meanwhile, some swear by the res life experience. Soon-to-be graduate Gabriel Bayeh spent the entirety of his post-secondary education living on Algonquin's campus.

"They guide you through the whole process and it's pretty easy," he said. "It's a great experience because you get to meet so many new people and you're really living that college experience that many people want."