Incoming McMaster student in 'nerve-racking' race to find housing before classes start

Srushti Thakkar knows she'll be attending classes at McMaster University in two weeks, but still doesn't know where she'll be sleeping. 

"I'm always constantly stressed about not having housing, and it adds to the stress of starting a new program." she told CBC Hamilton.

Between looking on Facebook, and travelling two hours from Ajax, Ont., to look at places to live, she feels like she's exhausted all options.

"It's also draining, always looking at different options. Like whether I'm online, or I'm on Facebook, or I'm talking to a Realtor, it's very frustrating of an experience. And also, it is kind of scary."

Thakkar said she's had to adjust her expectations after starting her housing hunt in March. 

"The prices are shocking," she said. 

"I've gone up quite substantially in my budget limit just by looking at what was available in the area and how much the prices were … I am lucky to be someone who can somewhat handle an increased budget, but it's definitely not fair."

A 2022 report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says new tenants are paying much more than those who already pay rent in the city. It also says units on the market are becoming more unaffordable to mid-income renters.

Thakkar is seeing one-bedroom apartments renting for more than $2,000 per month, which are very far from McMaster's Burlington campus where she'll be attending school.

With financial support from her parents, she can manage a higher budget, but the distance of affordable, safe places to live from McMaster's Burlington campus is something that Thakkar expects will be more difficult to manage. 

"I don't want to deal with having a long trek at night after a long day of classes."

Safety is another compromise she fears she might have to make.

"Affordable doesn't mean convenient or safe. I want to live somewhere where I don't have to be scared to come home after dark."

Between managing expectations and an impending deadline, Thakkar feels she had to forfeit some of her own requirements to find a place to stay in time. 

"It's been hard to find something that is a little private, affordable and close to campus, you're definitely going to be sacrificing at least one of the three."

It's also common to find scams on Facebook groups, she said. 

"It turns out a lot of the posts that you would think are viable places to live end up being scams, so it's really hard. I'm always not very trusting of the sources that are putting those up."

Common problem across the country

Students in other parts of the country say they are facing the same problem, with post-secondary classes starting in just weeks. University of Guelph student Alexandra Mussar told CBC her new home will be a cramped bedroom with water damage and dysfunctional sinks, in a house shared with six other students. For this, she's paying $840 every month.

This isn't how she pictured her university housing experience, but after six long months hunting for somewhere to live, she says she felt she had to settle.

"There were no other options. This was my last resort," she said. "It was either that or I was couch surfing for the next year."

Andres Sanchez and his partner are moving from Ecuador this fall in order for him to start a masters program at the University of Calgary.

But after two months of looking, he says they've had to rent an Airbnb for the first month of his schooling, as they haven't been able to lock down a longer-term rental.

"[It's] difficult and [I'm] a little let down, because of the price," he said.

There are many factors complicating the rental housing market. Canada hasn't built enough rental stock, with RBC warning that without more construction the country will be short 120,000 units by 2026. More recently, landlords have been raising rents to cover higher mortgage costs.

There is also an influx of students increasing steadily. A record 550,150 international student study permits were issued last year, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a 75 per cent increase from just five years ago. 

McMaster University expects to welcome more than 760 international first-year students to residence for the upcoming academic year, comprising 20 per cent of the 3,900 students living in residence, according to a Aug 15 statement sent to CBC Hamilton. 

Since 2018, there has been a 13.8 per cent increase in McMaster's student population. From 33,147 in the 2018-19 academic year to 37, 537 in the 2022-23 academic year.

Thakkar hopes to see more affordable buildings come in near McMaster University that would be safe for students to live in to accommodate the rising student population. 

"I think it would be great to see that and it would also take away all the leverage that like some of the buildings have that are already there, because they're the only ones right now," Thakkar said.

She has some leads she hopes will pan out, but with two weeks left from her first class, she can't help but feel dread.

"It has been nerve-racking trying to figure out what's going on. So it is stressful, the uncertainty of it all — I'm sure I'm not the only student who has to deal with it."