Nova Scotia students face housing crunch

With the calendar set to flip to September, university students are about to arrive en masse to campuses around the province.

“Student housing is a huge issue,” Georgia Saleski, Students Nova Scotia executive director, said in an interview.

“We know that there are students living in cars. We know there are mature students with kids that have nowhere to live, as well as students who are looking towards shelters or things like that in order to be able to study and have a place to live,” Saleski said.

The vice president of advocacy for the Saint Mary’s University Student Union is asking for a collaborative effort from the school and province to help solve the student housing problem.

“For Halifax there typically needs to be a centralized database where students can access verified listings of rentals. There needs to be off-campus housing support whether that’s through the government or through the university,” said Anubhav Gupta.

Some students who can’t find accommodations in the city are moving to nearby rural communities.

“One thing that I’m realizing now is that a lot of folks are actually leaving Halifax. For example I live in West Hants so that’s probably around 45 to 50 minutes outside Halifax,” said Kjele Mizpah Conyers-Steede, a grad student at Saint Mary’s University.

“Sadly I am commuting probably four times a week… The transportation systems within Halifax really don’t connect with the surrounding community.”

Word of the province’s student housing problem is spreading, and some students say that could affect enrolment.

“What we’re seeing now is international students are talking to individuals within their home countries and they’re basically saying that maybe you should look to other countries for your post-secondary education,” Conyers-Steede said.

That is, at least until the province’s student housing issues have been addressed.

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