Did you know that more than 1.5 million full-time students are currently enrolled in Canadian universities and colleges?
Of these, more than 400,000 are international students and no one is building housing for them.
They collectively generate a huge demand for rental housing and, in particular in large urban centres where rents are high, present a predictable source of demand for rental units.
It is estimated that the unmet (residual) demand for student housing in Canada is more than 416,000 beds. This should hardly come as a surprise since even with millions enrolled in Canadian universities, the total number of on-campus beds is just 121,164.
And the demand for student housing in Canada is only expected to rise. The demographic realities of most regions of Canada and the increased appetite for education around the world mean that international students will comprise a larger proportion of university enrolments in the future.
Wouldn’t you now agree that Student housing is a lucrative investment opportunity!
A 2019 study from CIBC, estimated that Canada has a shortage of about 300,000 housing units because of the way it counts — or doesn’t count — students.
In Canada’s census, a student who lives away from home during the school year but returns to their parents’ home in summers is counted as living with their parents.
“If we are undercounting young people, and most of them are renting, then we have to increase rental supply,” said Benjamin Tal, CIBC’s deputy chief economist and author of the report.
And the problem is growing in its impact on Canada. The percentage of Canadians who attend university has been rising steadily for decades, while at the same time Canadian schools have been attracting larger numbers of international students.
Tal notes that, among international students, the demand for housing is likely even more intense than among domestic students, because “most foreign students don’t have a parent’s house in Canada as a base.”
Public post-secondary institutions in Canada currently have insufficient facilities to accommodate majority of its students with most universities allotting their already limited housing supply to first-year students. According to the REIN report illustrates the widespread lack of student housing across the country stating “[a] mere three per cent of Canadian university students live in purpose-built, off-campus housing. Therefore, 97 per cent need housing in the public rental pool,” the report suggests.
In 2018, Canadian post-secondary students exceeded 1.5 million and enrolment rates are still rising especially among international students. In fact, international student enrolment rates increased by 52 per cent in the same year. More than half of the international student pool is shared by Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
Why is Canada popular amongst international students?
This is because Canada has a growing reputation as a safe and welcoming country with excellent yet affordable post-secondary education, and the federal government is increasing its reach to foreign students.
Across Canada, campus housing is sparse. There are only 121,164 beds on university campuses, leaving demand in excess of 416,000, according to the Real Estate Investment Network’s (REIN) University Effect Report.
The number of university students in Canada has increased, but so have government funding cutbacks, which has crimped the building of student housing. The REIN report makes clear there is increased demand, but little supply in the student-housing sector.
Some private developers have seen this as an opportunity.
Over the past 10 years, CentreCourt one of the city’s leading developers has launched seven condominium buildings in Toronto’s east core – two of which are on Jarvis Street, with another situated between Church and Jarvis streets.
At minimum, Ryerson University students in Toronto and affiliates inhabit 25 to 50% of buildings in the eastern core – east side of downtown. In addition to the major advantage of developing near a university, proximity to Yonge St. and the subway are crucial features, too, he notes.
REIN’s University Effect Report, published in 2019, suggests that the presence of a university has a stabilizing effect on housing prices. It found that for every one kilometre a house is closer to a university, its price increases by one per cent.
This is due to high student housing demand especially within 400 metres, or no farther than a 30-minute transit commute, from a university campus.
Gone are the days of utilitarian amenities and sparse furnishings. Current student housing demands are now all about lifestyle including resort-style living with free coffee in the lobby, granite countertops, hardwood floors, and stainless-steel appliances, bathrooms attached to every bedroom, roof-top patios with barbeques, and outdoor pools
Designed in Consultation with Ryerson Design Students
Earlier this year, Graywood and Phantom Developments sat down with Ryerson architecture students to gain firsthand feedback on their JAC Condos designs. The goal was for students to shape the building, which is expecting occupancy in 2024.
Their insights led to plans for shared co-working spaces and study nooks, music and gardening rooms, a bar available for rent, rooftop patio and an arts and crafts area for school projects. Many units will have multiple bedrooms to accommodate roommates.
The area the existing heritage structure occupies will be a low-key zone for amenities, where residents can hang out in a quiet library, a co-working space, meditation rooms and a yoga studio. The amenities mix is the result of a roundtable discussion the developer held with 30 students at Ryerson.
Hearing the students wanted a quiet space they can come home and switch off. The most popular request, however, was for in-suite laundry, a luxury missing from dorm rooms. Apart from the chill spaces, common areas will also include a media room, gardening room, fitness studio and dogwashing station that pet owners access through a side door so as not to dirty the lobby.
One of the most important guiding principals of real estate investment is always Location Location Location.
We know now that close proximity to university and college campuses gives us access to great rental pools of students, faculty and staff.
There are some great condo projects currently on sale at locations that are very close to college and university campuses:
199 Church condos at Church and Dundas
JAC condos at Jarvis and Carlton
Festival towers, South Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
Great inventory, pricing and incentives available. Contact our Lead Agent, Madiha Khan for more details 647.262.2300
