Expensive, hard-to-find housing troubles university students as school year begins

University of New Brunswick student Pawan Kumar said the search for housing in Fredericton has been "devastating."

He arrived from India 10 days ago to begin a master's degree in business administration, but so far, he hasn't been able to find anywhere to live.

"I'm staying in a hotel now and it's very costly," said Kumar.

He said the problem seems to be the lack of availability, which is indirectly increasing rent prices.

At the Université de Moncton, Étienne Belanger, the president of the student federation, said there are about 200 students who don't have housing yet.

"They either have to stay with a friend or they need to rent some hotel rooms, which is completely unacceptable. Because, you know, we are students."

For the second year in a row, the university put out a call out to the community to consider renting empty rooms in their homes to students.

Belanger said that resulted in about 50 students finding housing.

He said he's heard from students that the cost of rent near the university is around $1,500, and the closest affordable options are near the airport, about nine kilometres from the campus.

"If they want something cheap, they need to go far, but most of them don't have a car, don't have transportation … because the buses [don't] pass the airport."

Jacques Alalam, who is studying for a master's degree at UNB Fredericton and is from Lebanon, said working 20 hours a week is the only way to cover the cost of rent.

He said he is lucky to have a little bit of financial support from family, but finding an affordable apartment was still difficult.

Alalam was living somewhere else last year, but decided to move because of the cost of his previous place. 

He spent three months searching for an apartment, he said, wading through overpriced listings online.