Thursday, November 15 ~ SAANICH
~ West Shore Voice News
Hundreds of new, affordable, student homes are coming to the University of Victoria, it was announced today on campus by Premier John Horgan.
The idea is that living on campus assists students with their transition to university, provides academic and social programming and support, and nurtures a strong sense of belonging in the UVic community.
Two new buildings that will accommodate 782 students in addition to a new dining hall and multipurpose space replaces three aging buildings, for a net gain of 620 student homes.
This will expand on-campus housing by 25% at UVic, making it more affordable for students to get the education they need and freeing up more rental unit availability with in the general community where rental vacancy rates are among the lowest in BC if not the country.
“Students have enough stress in their lives without having to worry about finding a place to live they can afford. We’re moving forward on our commitment to students at UVic and throughout the province to deliver comfortable and affordable housing in the heart of where they study,” said Premier John Horgan. “By increasing housing stock specifically for students, we’re also taking the pressure off local rental markets, giving more options to other renters.”
During the 16 years of BC Liberal government, 130 student homes were funded, said Horgan.
UVic president Jamie Cassels said he was “stoked” with excitement over the advancement for student life on campus.
“This is a great day for the university. Thank you to the government for making this dream a reality,” Cassels said in a news conference this morning. He also thanked the business and community leaders (noting Oak Bay and Saanich) and local MLAs that supported the vision including Minister Carole James for finding the funds in the provincial budget and Education Minister Rob Fleming for six years of pushing for this accomplishment.
Cassels said the significance of the project is that it supports on-campus life, with UVic being one of Canada’s premiere research and teaching universities. “We educate over 22,000 students a year. We admit 4,000 to 5,000 students per year entering our programs.” He said that UVic is “fairly unique in Canada” in being a “destination university”, with over 75% of students coming from outside the immediate catchment area.
“This allows students to arrive to a bed, develop relationships and experiences,” said Cassels. “It’s not just a building, it’s part of the student experience, fundamental to student success. Students succeed better when there is access to living arrangements but also the support networks, friendships and advice and inspiration. When you surround yourself with high performing ambitious kind generous peers you begin to emulate those values.”
Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training Melanie Mark emceed the announcement today. She said the UVic project is the second to access the BC Student Housing Loan Program, a $450-million initiative launched in this year’s provincial budget to make housing more affordable and available for students.
The university receives more applications every year for on-campus housing than there are spaces available. The on-campus student housing will be more affordable than market housing and includes amenities such as student group and study space, an Indigenous student lounge, communal social spaces, laundry facilities and secure indoor bicycle storage.
Premier Horgan said the UVic project will be the first on-campus housing to use the Passive House construction standard, to achieve ‘exceptional energy efficiency’ where the buildings use 75% less energy for heating and cooling, and at least 50% less overall energy than a typical construction design.
“Projects like this are part of the direction our government, working with the BC Green Party caucus, is setting for British Columbia to tackle climate change. We are committed to taking hold of new technologies and new ideas to create a cleaner, less polluting and more energy-efficient future for our province,” said Premier Horgan.
Not only will this new project provide critically needed on-campus housing, but the new buildings will also be constructed to the Passive House standard.
“I’m thrilled to see this student housing project move forward at the University of Victoria,” said Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and leader of the BC Green Party.
Weaver said that addressing the critical need for on-campus housing will help ease the overall rental market and help deal with the affordability crisis. He called the low-carbon housing direction as innovative in the 21st century.
The estimated cost of the total project is $201 million. The Province is providing financing of $123 million with the University of Victoria Foundation providing up to $45 million. UVic will provide the difference.
Provincial funding includes $98 million from the BC Student Housing Loan Program for student housing and $25 million from the ministry capital budget toward half the cost of the dining hall.
Ainsley Kerr of the UVic Students’ Society (UVSS) said: “For years we’ve been calling on the government to make education more accessible by helping students who have few options for affordable housing in a community with low rental availability and a high cost of living. This announcement will help UVic students succeed by having a stable working environment and the UVSS will continue to work with the university and the Province to find innovative solutions to student housing issues.”
During construction, the project will provide increased opportunities for apprentices in accordance with the new apprenticeship ratio policy. Construction will create an estimated 659 jobs in addition to 620 supplier industry jobs.
Construction on the first building is expected to start in 2020 with 418 new and replacement student homes by fall 2022. Construction on the second building is expected to start in 2022 with 364 new student homes ready by fall 2024.
The BC government’s 30-point plan on housing includes a BC Student Housing Loan Program for public post-secondary institutions that provides access to up to $450 million to help finance student housing projects over six years.
Lending will go toward building approximately 5,000 new homes in addition to 3,000 built by post-secondary institutions through grants, institutional self-financing and partnerships, for a total of approximately 8,000 additional student homes.
A $36-million student-housing project at Thompson Rivers University will create 533 additional homes for students with $25 million from the Province.
An Indigenous student-housing building at the College of New Caledonia will provide up to 12 furnished student rooms with $2.6 million from the Province.