By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
On January 14, the SFU Residence Hall Association (RHA) announced a petition calling on Residence and Housing to keep on-campus housing affordable. In the petition, the RHA highlights that “many students rely on campus housing” — especially first-year and international students — but that the university matches residence fees to unaffordable market rates. The RHA calls on Residence and Housing to “prioritize accessibility, equity, and student needs in all decisions related to residence fees.”
The Peak sat down with Vinisha Kadyan, the president of the RHA, to learn more about the association’s demands. Kadyan said the primary goal of the petition is to call on the university to lower residence fees. She highlighted her personal experience as an international student at SFU and the stress the cost of living is for students like her.
Kadyan said the policy of matching residence housing fees to market rates is compounding the stresses that people in residence face daily. “Day by day, there are many students who are coming from out of province or even international students and who are new in [the] environment. They do not want to deal with landlords and the rent issue and get scammed as well,” she said, referring to why students choose to live in residence. She emphasized that students don’t just value affordability, they also care about “safety and community.”
Kadyan also alleged that SFU Residence and Housing has a history of not taking students’ opinions seriously regarding lowering prices. In regards to previous surveys, she said,
“Even though they took our opinion, they didn’t implement it.”
— Vinisha Kadyan, president of the SFU Residence Hall Association
The petition comes as more discussion on student housing has emerged throughout the Lower Mainland, with housing advocates at UBC protesting for more housing rights in October 2025. However, some setbacks have occurred. In October, the City of Burnaby rejected a proposal for student housing near Burnaby Mountain due to environmental concerns.
The RHA president noted that she was shocked when she heard about the proposal being rejected and called on the local government to take a firm stance on the issue and act for struggling students.
In a statement to The Peak, SFU said they “conducted an independent market analysis of its student housing fees” in July 2025, “assessing SFU’s student housing to other student housing buildings at post-secondary institutions in the Lower Mainland. This market analysis found that SFU’s housing fees were at or below the rates of other post-secondary institutions.”
The university “does not compare its housing fees to private market rentals because they serve different purposes. SFU housing includes services and supports (Wi-Fi, utilities, 24/7 student support, community programming and support, cleaning, etc.) and operating costs, including Living Wage and union wages, that are not reflected in typical private rental prices. This makes direct comparisons misleading,” they said.
“To maintain transparency,” SFU said their “Board of Governors provides guidelines for residence fee setting and oversees residence fee increases.” They also said “the total price of the cost of living in residences and the meal plan per term are published well in advance on SFU’s Residence and Housing website.” They claim several student suggestions have been implemented, such as “switching cable TV for Roku TVs and changing hardwired internet for more accessible Wi-Fi.” They concluded by saying “the university continues to listen to student feedback as part of our ongoing assessment of SFU’s housing fees” and for SFU’s Housing Master Plan.
Kadyan added that Simon Fraser Student Society president Landy Liu expressed sympathy with the RHA’s petition and would support the future steps the RHA would take. The Society previously advocated for more support for the RHA in the 2018–19 school year.
In terms of future steps, Kadyan said that her organization would be promoting the petition among students who lived in residence. She also pointed out that she could not rule out an escalation, saying that, if needed, they would pursue a demonstration on campus.