P.E.I. kicks in $75K for student-led housing needs assessment

The P.E.I. government is contributing cash to study the housing needs of post-secondary students, with students themselves taking the lead. 

In the provincial legislature on Thursday, Housing Minister Rob Lantz announced a $75,000 contribution to the assessment. 

He said the goal is to get in-depth information about the housing needs of both domestic and international students living on the Island.

The needs assessment will be led by UPEI's student union, in partnership with its counterparts at Holland College and  Collège de l'Île.

"I think they'll be asking students questions around things like, 'How much time do you actually spend at home as opposed to how much you spend at campus? Do you take meals at home or do you eat out?,'" Lantz said. "Location is very important, too — proximity to studying, transit — all of these things will be under consideration." 

The minister said he met student leaders last summer, who identified housing as their top priority. 

Lantz said different types of housing are likely needed, including shared-kitchen dorms and multi-unit apartments.

As part of the initiative, student unions will hold workshops later this spring, and Lantz said their assessment is expected to be completed this summer. At that point, he'll meet with the students to see how the province could help meet whatever needs they identify.

Lantz said the post-secondary institutions themselves have already named a number of housing shortcomings, and that information would also be combined with the student survey results.

What students are saying

The province's housing situation has been described as a crisis since at least 2018, and an influx of new students each year has continued to put extra pressure on a market with already low vacancy rates.

Holland College student union president Eddie Childs said he hopes opening more student housing will have a trickle-down effect on P.E.I.'s broader housing market. 

"Unfortunately, [some] students are signed on to rental agreements that aren't necessarily compliant with the laws we have here on Prince Edward Island ... like eight-month lease terms so landlords can try and boot students out over the summer," Childs said. "We know that these are illegal, and it's a big problem for students in our community.

"There's always somebody out there who's willing to take advantage of students, unfortunately."

Noah Mannholland, UPEI's vice-president for academic external affairs, said a lack of affordable housing has forced many students to take on additional jobs while they study so they can afford rent.

"Students face a few unique challenges," he said. "They need to be in housing that is close to the university, they need to be in housing that is able to accommodate them coming and going at all hours of the day, and they also struggle to pay the average rental prices in Charlottetown now." 

Collège de l'Île student committee president Muriel Kembou said the college is mostly made up of international students who have their own unique challenges when trying to adapt to life in P.E.I.

"It's very important for them to have a place where they [can] settle … which is accessible by public transport," she said. "It may not be obvious, the distance from the housing to the school, but … if it's accessible it [will be] adequate.

"Being an international student, you face more problems than permanent citizens from Canada, because you have a change of environment."

Lantz said the assessment may not necessarily lead to housing solely dedicated to students, but it could include housing geared more broadly toward more transient populations, including temporary foreign workers.