By: Corbett Gildersleve, News Writer
On May 21, SFU announced the start of construction on a new student residence and expanded childcare centre, expected to be completed in fall 2027 as part of phase three of their residence master plan.
This eight-story residence will add space for 445 third and fourth-year students, allowing the total residence space to accommodate approximately 8% of “all SFU full-time students across all campuses.” The childcare centre will add “36 spaces for infant-toddlers and 124 spaces for kids from three to five years,” increasing the total number of childcare spaces to 570. The construction is estimated to cost $196.6 million, “shared between the province and SFU.” The cost of the project is relatively consistent with other student housing projects in BC, though Capilano University’s Squamish and North Vancouver projects cost $55 million for 333 beds and $58.2 million for 362 beds, respectively. Factors like the cost-per-bed in specific regions, as well as land and servicing costs, may contribute to this.
The Peak asked r/simonfaser about the project, with users raising concerns about the location and height of the residence building. One redditor noted how the new housing will take up part of the northern residence parking lot, possibly making it more difficult for students to find parking in the future. SFU said in a statement to The Peak, “While there are some limited impacts to parking during the construction period of phase three, which is currently underway, there will be no permanent loss of parking.” Another user said the buildings should be as tall as the ones in UniverCity to use the limited space on Burnaby Mountain. There, buildings can range in height, with some buildings like CentreBlock being 16 stories.
The final phase of SFU’s residence master plan includes the creation of 296 studio and 4-bedroom units for “nontraditional age students and graduate students,” slated to start in summer 2028.
The Peak also spoke with Abhishek Nanjundappa, executive director of the Graduate Student Society, and Remi Makinde, director of external relations. Nanjundappa said that an increase of 160 childcare seats is great, but there are still concerns about lengthy wait times for enrolling children. He added that it’s almost been 10 years since Louis Riel House closed, which resulted in the loss of 210 units that supported graduate students and families. Since then, just 88 units have been built to cover that loss with the construction of the Family Housing building in UniverCity. 65 of these units can support individuals with up to two children.
The final phase of SFU’s residence master plan includes the creation of 296 studio and four bedroom units for “nontraditional age students and graduate students,” slated to start in summer 2028. Phase three of the plan was originally a different project, set to create 350 second and third-year student housing units at the Louis Riel site in summer 2022, as noted in SFU’s 2015 master plan report.
SFU told The Peak that “the master plan is the result of an extensive consultation process with a variety of key university stakeholders including students, faculty, professional, and student staff, university executives, and administrative staff.” They also mentioned the final phase “has not yet reached the design stage,” and the number of units may change.
Concerning the childcare centre, Dr. Jennifer Scott, director of labour relations from the SFU Faculty Association, said feedback from their members has been “overwhelmingly positive” and that “more on-campus childcare is always a good thing for our members, many of whom have children in the current SFU childcare centres.”
