'It’s just insane': Lack of housing stressing out Halifax students

University students moving to Halifax are getting a hard lesson about their new city.

A lack of student and affordable housing is leaving many students stressing over where they’ll live this fall semester.

“There is nowhere, every single house, you go and talk to the landlord, and there are fifty other people lined up out front, it’s just insane,” said Rafelliam Woods Taylor, a third-year University of Kings College student.

He's been looking since February for an apartment and finally found one last month. He considers himself lucky.

“We are going to be homeless for the night because we have to move out today by noon,” said Woods Taylor, piling his belongings into a moving truck outside his apartment.

He doesn’t get the keys to his new rental until Thursday.

“We’re just looking for somewhere to leave the U-Haul right now,” he said.

The housing crunch is real, and at last check, the vacancy rate in Halifax sat at one per cent.

“There are many concerns that many students may have to defer their education as they are unable to find housing here in Halifax,” said Kyle Cook, Saint Mary’s University Students Association vice president of advocacy.

“What I worry about most, is for those students who don’t have that connection when coming in,” said Cook. “So first-year students, international students and out-of-province students are the ones that are experiencing the most challenges.”

The Dalhousie University Student Union says there are more than 100 international students without a place to live right now. Other schools like the University of Kings College and Nova Scotia Community College have reached out to lists of alumni to help find additional student housing.

“We have about 50,000 alumni who we sent messages out to in March and April,” said Chauncey Kennedy, manager of housing and student life at NSCC.

NSCC believes there are fewer student rentals in Halifax since the pandemic.

“We see a reduction in the amount of units available for rent,” said Kennedy. “We believe a lot of property owners have actually sold multi-unit properties to single families and so that takes units off the market.”

It's all adding more stress to the student population that has already endured the pivot to online education during lockdowns, and back to in-person learning this fall.

“This is the start of our third year now. And I don’t think a day has gone by where we haven’t thought about where are we going to live and how are we going to afford it,” said Woods Taylor. “Where is all the housing?”