This year, Kingston smashed its new housing targets by a whopping 250 per cent with 1465 new housing projects starting in the city. But as the demand for housing becomes fiercer and more competitive, Queen’s isn’t doing enough to their students in finding a place to call home.
Queen’s will continue to not be able to guarantee housing for incoming undergraduate students. As the University states on its official website: “If you receive an offer of ission after April 15, 2024, that does not contain a residence guarantee, and you apply for residence and pay the deposit by the deadline of June 3, 2024, at 4 pm ET, then you will be placed in a lottery for access to residence. You will be notified by June 6 whether you have a residence space.”
Despite this, Queen’s continues to enrol more first year students into our school despite the serious lack of housing options available on and off campus.
Kingston’s housing situation is deeply linked to Canada’s rental housing crisis, with more affordable housing increasingly vanishing. According to a CBC News analysis of over 1,000 neighbourhoods across Canada’s largest cities, less than one per cent of rentals are both vacant and affordable for the majority of Canadian renters.
In Kingston, new housing projects such as Foundry or Unity Point, sell two-bedroom apartments for students at $1,450 per person, excluding electricity but including other utilities like water, heat, and Wi-Fi. For many students like myself who afford rent through part-time work and scholarships, this isn’t an option. As wages stagnate and inflation increases, the pressure to pay unaffordable rates of rent will mean longer hours at work and less hours of productive study time. This forces student to compete with each other, international students, exchange students and even Kingston locals for a spot to call home near campus.
This situation creates an incredibly stressful period for many students, who often fall prey to exploitative landlords who take advantage of their desperation. Without fully understanding their rights as tenants, some landlords have student students sign leases that include illegal clauses, such as prohibiting pets, guests, or playing music.
This is a part of a larger issue where many landlords treat their properties as a simple source of stable income, an asset in which they don’t need to care or maintain, an asset that guarantees you a higher rate of return every year without any form of strong regulation. As rent increases throughout the student filled areas, it forces students to seek options elsewhere for longer commutes or ditch the idea of coming to Queen’s entirely.
A simple search on Reddit will show you how concerning this issue is for incoming full-time undergraduates. On the Ontario Grade 12s subreddit, one wrote “Yep. If I don’t get in this week, I’m not going to Queen’s. I didn’t think it’d be an issue for ConEd with my marks, but it’s looking like my marks might not be high enough.”
Queen’s is shooting itself in the foot by failing to do more to address the current rental housing crisis students are facing. While the University is committed to its “Campus Master Plan,” which acknowledges that the current housing situation “has caused stress on nearby communities and wear and tear on much of the historic housing stock,” it has not effectively advocated to the City of Kingston for more affordable and quality housing, not just for students at Queen’s but for Kingston locals as well.
As we know, housing is not just a student issue—it’s a citywide issue.
Students who otherwise would be coming to Kingston to study, live, work, and spend their money here are being scared away due to the disastrous housing situation. Financially, this means lost tuition, lost revenue, loss of potential employees, and a loss of potential alumni donors in the future for the University.
It’s time for Queen’s to recognize by advocating and investing resources into the most challenging issue today, the University can distinguish itself as a leader and be an example of how academic institutions can play an influential role in addressing the affordability crisis.
One idea the University should pursue with the City’s help is the concept of non-market housing. Non-market is different from social or public housing—non-market housing is protected from the forces of the real estate market and thus can offer affordable rent or rent below the average rate in Kingston.
In countries like the United States or some European countries such as Austria, universities have stepped up to their students with either funding they have raised themselves, or with money provided by their governments.
Student housing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has prices far below area market rates. This saves students a lot of money, as the average rent rates for a one bedroom in Boston are $3,446 a month which is much higher than Kingston’s average rate for a one-bedroom apartment being at $1,853 a month.
In Finland, student housing is subsidized by the state and every student is given a monthly housing allowance with regular meetings and lobbying efforts by universities and student unions with the housing minister to ensure that affordable and quality student housing remains a priority.
Other university towns, like Guelph and London, home to the University of Guelph and the University of Western Ontario, have also grappled with housing shortages. In Guelph, 1,300 incoming first year students were left without a guaranteed place to live. Western recently proposed a new residence hall for upper-year students—a step in the right direction, albeit overdue.
Queen’s has long been an anchor for the Kingston community, providing jobs, stimulating the local economy, and delivering critical services. When it comes to the housing crisis, it is no different, Kingston and the local community here have historically provided Queen’s and its students the amazing opportunity to work and live alongside them.
The City of Kingston alongside Queen’s must work together to address this issue affecting all of us.
Let us tackle this issue together for the benefit of not just Queen’s students, but all people who reside in Kingston—affordability is not just a campus issue, it’s a Kingston issue too.
Nicolas is a fifth-year Computing student.
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