Editor’s note (12/10/24): The Peak reached out to SFU for a statement but didn’t receive a response by the publication deadline. We failed to initially include this fact in the article when it was published.
By: Hailey Miller, Staff Writer
Over the past few months, the number of SFU students found sleeping at the SFU Burnaby campus has increased. The lack of affordability and accessibility to housing and Burnaby campus dorms are reported to be a major problem.
The Peak spoke with SFSS president Emmanuel Adegboyega, who said he has “seen certain students living on campus and staying in academic buildings.” Housing in the Lower Mainland has skyrocketed to unaffordable amounts over the past few years. This year, Vancouver was ranked the third-least affordable housing market globally. “We see students not being able to afford to live on or off campus,” said Adegboyega.
He said another part of this problem is the continual increases in tuition and other student fees, alongside the overall cost of living in BC. The cost of living has increased to almost $4,000 a month — nearly a 3% increase from the previous year.
The SFSS president explained that those most impacted by the housing crisis are international and out-of-province students. Many international students aren’t guaranteed housing upon arrival to Canada for their studies, and out-of-province students don’t have the potential option of living with family or friends. Adegboyega said inaccessible and unaffordable housing only poses more challenges to studying in a new country. For one, international students have to maintain specific requirements, like working below a certain amount of hours, to continue studying at SFU.
The housing crisis is not only of concern to post-secondary students in BC, but all across Canada. While inflation drives up the costs of university operations and maintenance, universities respond by increasing student fees.
“When it comes to trying to find a safe space to live, it’s a challenge for students because having to meet those monthly rents is almost unsustainable for students if you compare the ratio of how much university students make and how much their total expenses add up to,” explained Adegboyega.
In order to address the problem, he said SFU needs to do more to help alleviate the struggles of students. Adegboyega expressed that addressing the housing accessibility issue on campus would allow for better housing options. “That’s been the frontline of our advocacy to the university,” he said, on behalf of the SFSS.
A new housing project has been announced to increase the number of beds on the Burnaby campus by 445 in fall 2027. This would bring the total amount of beds on the mountain to about 4,445. Adegboyega stressed that this doesn’t begin to put a dent in the waitlist for on-campus housing, nor the housing crisis overall. He said this does nothing for students currently waiting for housing on campus because by fall 2027, most of these students will have graduated.
The SFSS is proposing for SFU and the provincial government to expand housing beyond Burnaby campus.
“The university cannot take on all the costs and the responsibilities that comes from having to ensure that students have a safe place to live in,” said Adegboyega. He explained that another option is getting Burnaby city council involved in rezoning areas surrounding the campus to include more student housing options.
The SFSS is also proposing for SFU and the BC government to start company partnerships that will help students find housing. “When it comes to resources outside the university, I think there’s a lot of businesses that are very much invested in student housing — some of them non-profit. There are resources out there that are willing to partner and be a solution to the current problem.”
The Peak reached out to SFU but did not receive a response by the publication deadline.
