‘Desperate pleas:’ Halifax university students struggling to find housing

With only three weeks until classes start, student unions at Halifax universities say there are still many first-year students on the hunt for accommodations.

A shortage of housing for students both on and off campus has been alarming for Nova Scotia university staff and student unions trying to help.

With only three weeks until classes start, the situation is looking grim.

President of the student union at the University of King’s College (UKC) in Halifax, Victoria Gibbs, said there are still many first-year students on the hunt for accommodations.

“They’re reaching out with desperate pleas, like, ‘Please, do you know anyone that you can connect me with? I’m looking for a roommate and I’m looking for a place to live. I can’t get in anywhere,’” said Gibbs.

“There is simply not enough housing both on campus and off campus in Halifax that’s affordable and accessible for students.”

Gibbs has been in the King’s Student Union (KSU) in other roles in the past years, and has never seen this amount of students reaching out before the school year even started.

During COVID-19, at least several rooms at UKC were reserved as “isolation rooms,” but that’s been taken away this school year, said Gibbs.

“Every single room is fully occupied,” she said. “They’ve converted any room that could be made into a double room, into a double room. They have maxed out their capacity on campus.”