Interest in Canada's Student Housing Market Growing Rapidly

Only 16% of undergraduate students live in on-campus housing according to the 2011 Canadian University Survey Consortium (see Table 8). Twice that number live in rental housing off-campus. How would you describe the type of off-campus housing that undergrads live in? After my experience today at the Canadian Student Housing Symposium I can guarantee that a decade from now student housing off-campus will be described in a very different way.


The symposium was hosted by Derek Lobo and his company Rock Apartment Advisors.  In the morning we received insight into the Canadian rental market over the past half century, heard about how to finance student housing and heard from Campus Living Centres (CLC), American Campus Communities (ACC) and Domus Student Housing on management of student housing. The second half had us travel to three ACC properties at the University of Buffalo in Amherst, New York.

Student Housing has been changing over the past decade and in the next decade the change will become bigger and much more noticeable. Hot tubs, large game rooms, indoor basketball courts, model suites available year round to attract new residents, in-unit laundry, a bathroom inside each bedroom and walk-in closets are just some of the features now included. 

About 100 people attended today's symposium with the vast majority looking to or already investing in purpose built student housing properties. The days of student's renting basement apartments is about to become a thing of the past. For-profit student housing providers are learning, adjusting and offering impressive properties for reasonable rates.

How do you feel about these changes to the Canadian student housing market?



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