Affordable Housing for Post-Secondary Students in Mississauga

The Problem:

Canada is in the midst of a housing crisis. Between November 2021 and November 2022, the average of listed rental costs raised by 12.4% across the country. In the greater Toronto area, the rental increases are even higher, with a 19.2% increase in Mississauga, a 23.7% increase in Toronto, and a 28% increase in Brampton during the same time period.

Students are being squeezed by tuition costs. On average, Ontario domestic undergraduate students pay $7512 annually in tuition. Undergraduate international students in Ontario pay the highest tuitions in Canada, with an average annual tuition cost of $42,909.

Students are seen as a transitory community, and thus are excluded as a priority group from the Canadian National Housing Strategy. Without student-focused affordable housing, students across the country will continue to experience housing precarity.

Our Solution

Working alongside the UTMSU (University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union) and other stakeholders, we are working to develop a student housing cooperative for UTM students. Student housing cooperatives are a model of housing that ensures high-quality affordable housing in perpetuity. Student housing cooperatives are non-profit organizations that are owned by students and chartered with a mandate to provide affordable housing in perpetuity. There are many successful student housing cooperatives in Canada, such as Waterloo Cooperative Residence Inc. in Waterloo, Ontario that houses over 1000 post-secondary students.

Information sessions about the project and how to get involved will be released this fall.