(File photo: CFJC Today).

By Stephanie Swensrude

STUDENT HOUSING

TRU students preparing to live in cramped quarters amid high rent prices

Aug 16, 2022 | 5:11 PM

KAMLOOPS — The fall semester at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) will begin in just a few weeks and students from out of town are looking for places to live while completing their studies.

On-campus accommodation is full with a waitlist and off-campus housing is expensive — when it’s available at all.

According to the most recent numbers from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the vacancy rate in Kamloops is 0.9 per cent. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,081. This is leading some students to double up.

“People living in places where there are many more people than should be living in that accommodation, they’re living in places where they’re showering and washing their dishes in the same sink,” TRU Students Union Executive Director Nathan Lane told CFJC Today. “We know for sure that that’s going on, that’s how students are finding places that meet their price range.”

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“When you’re living like that, it clearly has an impact on your educational experience. If you’re spending most of your time in a place with seven or eight people, three people sleeping in a living room, you’re clearly not able to focus on your studies and the reason why you’re here in the first place.”

The problem isn’t limited to just students.

“We see faculty members posting everyday saying they can’t find housing,” said Lane. “The institution has been working to build more beds, the City has been working on an affordable housing plan, the student union has been trying to manage a housing registry, and support students with placements, but it’s really really hard. The solutions just can’t keep up with what’s happening in the community. There’s just not enough affordable places to live in Kamloops.”

Crews are building a new dorm in TRU’s East Village that will add about 150 new beds, for a total of 639 beds in the Village.

Warren Asuchak, executive director of campus infrastructure at TRU, says this building should be ready for the winter semester.

“Our intent is to have it open for January. Right now, at this point we’ve done the earthworks,” said Asuchak.

“Then, we’ll start on the utilities, and once that’s done we can start on the pilings,” he said.

“And because they’re being modularly built, you might not see them on site. You might think, ‘Boy, there’s a lot of work to be done’, but the modulars are built offsite. We did a tour of the plant a couple of weeks ago and that work is well underway.”