Calgary housing headache: Students scramble for spots as campuses reach capacity

Calgary's tight rental market is creeping onto post-secondary campuses, with the city's three biggest institutions completely full for housing, with hundreds on wait lists. 

The on-campus residences at University of Calgary, SAIT and Mount Royal University (MRU) are all completely spoken for, leaving some students scrambling for a place to live ahead of the fall 2023 semester. 

"This is unprecedented, honestly, in my time at least — and I think since West Residence (at MRU) was built 20 years ago, that we've had to put a waitlist together," said Mark Keller, director of residences services at MRU.

The two residence towers that serve SAIT and the Alberta University of Arts are full with more than a thousand students registered to live there.

About 100 more students are waiting for a possible spot to open up. 

"With the competitive rental market in Calgary, we encourage students looking for off-campus accommodation to make sure they are taking appropriate steps to protect themselves," a spokesperson for SAIT wrote in an email. 

The University of Calgary is also completely full, with 740 students on the wait list. 

A UCalgary spokesperson says it officials are working to try to connect students who need housing with off-campus options. 

"We have also placed ads in community newsletters, which will be distributed this month, with the goal of informing Calgarians of the housing shortage impacting our students, and an appeal asking people to consider renting out spare bedrooms," a statement reads. 

Officials are also recommending students look at SpacesShared.ca or Places4Students.com, two websites that can connect students with rooms for rent or roommates.

MRU officials say they're hoping to have a better idea of demand by the end of the week and are not ruling out the possibility of considering temporary housing for the enrolled students who don't have a place to stay. 

"I think the main driving factor is the rental market in Calgary," said Keller of MRU.

"A lot of students who would be looking maybe to live off-campus are finding it harder to find accommodations off-campus, particularly affordable accommodations.

"We're seeing the normal number of students looking for on-campus housing, as well as a higher number who maybe hadn't considered it initially and are now looking to us as a reasonable accommodation option."