Nova Scotia to add 270 student housing beds on four community college campuses

The Nova Scotia government announced on Tuesday plans to build housing on four community college campuses as the province grapples with a crisis that has left students struggling to find apartments.

Minister of Advanced Education Brian Wong said Nova Scotia Community College campuses in Springhill, Kentville, Bridgewater and at the Institute of Technology campus in Halifax will get new housing able to hold a total of 270 students.

“We do know that for every unit we create, it frees up the market in these communities,” Wong said. “We are trying to make sure the students we need to be the workers for today and tomorrow are able to have a place to live in order to get the education they need.”

The minister said the new residences would be built on government-owned land on or near the campuses. Details about cost, design and construction timelines will be announced in the coming months, he said.

Eirik Larsen, student association president at the Institute of Technology campus, said the housing is desperately needed. “It’s hard to focus on your studies while you are also worrying about paying rent or finding a new place to move into,” he said.

He said housing is at such a premium, especially in Halifax, that the spots allocated to his campus would be “filled up as soon as they are built.”

Larsen, who currently lives with relatives, said he’s been looking for a new place for the past six months and still hasn’t found anything he can afford.

The campuses in Springhill and Bridgewater are expected to receive about 40 beds each, while the Kentville campus will get about 90 beds and the Halifax campus about 100 beds. Roughly 2,250 students are enrolled at the four college campuses.

Tuesday’s announcement adds to a previous $112-million housing commitment to add 350 new units for students across the college system by September 2025.

Georgia Saleski, executive director of Students Nova Scotia, welcomed the announcement but added that it has to provide an affordable housing option for students. She also said the province’s 59,000 post-secondary students want to see the government’s long-awaited student housing strategy.

“We know that solving the student housing crisis requires investment in both the college and university sides of things,” Saleski said.

She said the dramatic increase in international student enrolment alone over the last five years underscores the need for a broader strategy. “We are at the point now in Nova Scotia where some of our campuses have over two-thirds international students.”

Wong told reporters the strategy is still being worked on.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.