SFU’s McTaggart-Cowan Hall reopened for the fall 2025 term after undergoing renovations that lasted nearly two years. However, early this fall semester, it was met with mixed online reviews concerning the cleanliness of the building.
In a Reddit post that has since been deleted, a user shared their issues with the building r/simonfraser on September 8. They said, “Every single bathroom in this building is infested with these flies. There must be at least 50 per bathroom.” Additionally, the user claimed that “many sinks across multiple bathrooms are clogged,” and alleged that cleaning staff do not address these issues “until a student [goes] through the maintenance process to unclog them.” The Peak took a tour of McTaggart-Cowan Hall to verify these claims.
At the time of The Peak’s tour on September 25 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., no flies were present in three bathrooms visited on the 300 and 200 levels of the McTaggart-Cowan Hall bathrooms. All sinks appeared clean and unclogged.
“Residence life and residence facilities staff, along with janitorial workers, monitor day-to-day conditions. Live-in community advisors and area coordinators also conduct regular rounds of the buildings and help identify maintenance concerns.”
— Zoe Woods, SFU director of student housing
The Peak reached out to SFU’s director of student housing Zoe Woods, who stated that “all bathrooms are cleaned daily. Residence life and residence facilities staff, along with janitorial workers, monitor day-to-day conditions. Live-in community advisors and area coordinators also conduct regular rounds of the buildings and help identify maintenance concerns.”
An anonymous resident of McTaggart Hall seconded the claim that there were flies in the bathrooms, but shared with The Peak that their biggest concern lay in the general cleanliness standards of the bathrooms. They highlighted that counters, bathroom stall doors, toilet seats, and sinks remained visibly unclean, and that paper towels were no longer provided in the bathrooms.
On the date of The Peak’s visit, the cleaning logs were posted for the month of September. Bathroom 222 was not indicated to be cleaned for two dates in September, and bathroom 227 and 308 was not indicated to be cleaned for one day in September. The cleaning logs noted that cleaners performed the following duties in bathrooms: cleaning all surfaces, floors, door handles, mirrors, toilets/urinals, and walls. Additionally, they take out garbage and “restock paper supplies and soap.”
The noise generated by the building’s doors also was highlighted as a persistent issue in the Reddit post. “Some doors are outright broken and will only partly close while letting out the most excruciating metallic screech you’ll ever hear [ . . . ] If you care about sleep at all, you better bring some ear plugs, because you will hear every single door opening, closing, slamming, and screeching across the hall.”
During The Peak’s tour, some fire doors made metallic screeching noises. Doors entering lounges and bathrooms were noiseless. One fire door on the 2000 level was propped open by the placement of a doorstopper wedged in its uppermost section. When the doorstopper was removed, the door didn’t fully close.
Woods shared in her statement with The Peak that “Residence and Housing is aware of [all] the issues raised and is actively working to address them.” She added, “Residents wanting to connect directly with a member of the administrative team are welcome to send in a request to set up a request to set up a phone call, in-person, or virtual meeting. Contact information is available on the Residence & Housing Website. ”
In a statement to The Peak, SFU said they “place a high priority on maintaining a safe, clean and well-functioning living environment for all residents.” They added, “The university is aware of the concerns in McTaggart-Cowan Hall and is addressing them accordingly. Every effort is made to resolve maintenance and cleaning concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure a positive living experience for our community.”
