P.E.I. post-secondary students struggle to find housing in super-tight rental market

Prince Edward Island's housing shortage means some post-secondary students starting classes in September are having a very tough time finding somewhere to live. 

As the province's population grows at a record pace, there isn't enough housing to accommodate everyone — and that includes students moving here from other countries or elsewhere in Canada. 

"I'm kind of worried because my lease is going to end in September. I need to rent a room as soon as possible," said Sumina Sunar, an international student from Nepal studying computer science at UPEI. 

She is currently sharing a room with her friend, and looking for a new place to rent. 

"I want my own room. But the price of the room is really high," she said. 

Sunar's monthly housing budget is $500, but she said most rooms for rent in a shared house are now costing at least $800. 

The rental housing vacancy rate on P.E.I. was an ultra-low 0.8 per cent in 2022, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. 

UPEI student Sartaj Singh was finally able to find an affordable apartment in the city where he studies through word of mouth. 

When Singh first moved to P.E.I., he rented an apartment in Cornwall. 

"Even with the bus, I had to travel 45 minutes from there. I used to miss classes," said Singh, who now has his own room in a basement apartment in Charlottetown for $400 a month.

In a statement to CBC News, UPEI said it has a total of 810 student spots in its residences. 

"The UPEI residence office is still working through requests from students," the email statement read. "We will have a more definitive picture of the situation in mid-August."

In August of 2022, the Charlottetown-based university took the unusual step of asking students who had been unable to find housing to defer or delay their studies for a while.

"They thought this would be the easy part," an official told CBC News at the time. "They thought that the transition to the academics would be the hard part, and unfortunately it's just been more stressful than people anticipated, trying to find a place to live."

At Holland College, all residence rooms are now claimed for this year and there are about 150 people on a wait list.

"The demand is definitely high. It certainly aligns with the housing challenges obviously in the community," said Doug Currie, vice-president of corporate and strategic development at the college. 

It is especially challenging for international students, said Currie, because they need an address on P.E.I. in order to obtain a permit to study in Canada.

Twenty-five percent of students at Holland College are from other countries. 

"If they can't find a place to live, then that impacts our ability to hold that enrolment at its full capacity," said Currie. 

More housing on the horizon?

The college is hoping to somehow create more housing for students, whether that means acquiring more buildings or using local hotels — but nothing is definite yet, Currie said. 

"We've had numerous conversations with private-sector owners to look at sort of a model that could house our needs from late August to late May," he said.

Sunar hopes to see more housing created on the Island for people like her.

"More students are coming, but there are a minimum number of buildings," she said. "We hope that they make more buildings and more apartments for us."