With the city expecting an influx of new and returning students in both of our universities and Conestoga College, as well as other private colleges, the competitiveness and urgency for student housing is at an all-time high. The shortfalls of housing that exist in Waterloo Region already deeply impact the housing market for local residents, but when over 70,000 students arrive in the fall for full time studies, housing shortfalls are exacerbated.
Of course, the region is shaped by its rich academic opportunities which both provide an array of study opportunities for students at a local, national and international level, but also our local economy is deeply reliant on the student population. The University of Waterloo provides over 5,000 jobs alone, while having a student body of over 40,000 full and part time students collectively. Conestoga College has over 55,000 students spread across its several campuses in southern Ontario with the main locations being located in the region. With a robust student population coming and going yearly, there is an urgency to ensure that students have proper housing, unfortunately this is not the case for many international students.
Waterloo Region has always hosted students from across the country and internationally, but since 2014 Conestoga College has increased their student body by 1,579 per cent. Meaning that in just four years, Conestoga College has doubled their student body, with 37,000 study permits approved in 2023 alone which totals a student body of 45,000 students, with the majority being international students. This shadows both Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, which has only increased their student body by a bit over 60 per cent.
A blog post from 2019 explains how Conestoga College’s downtown Kitchener campus, “will attract new talent, supporting the success of established, start-up and scaling companies within the city.”
Additionally, Tibbits states the new campus “will expand our capacity to deliver quality programming that prepares students for successful futures and develops new talent to serve the needs of the local workforce.”
In contrast to what the Conestoga blog post mentions, the situation is bleak and a lack of growth for infrastructure has already taken a toll on its students. Unfortunately, academic institutions are not doing an adequate job of ensuring that their internation students are finding housing during their time here. This is becoming an alarming situation as these students are finding themselves resorting to unsafe and appalling housing accommodations.
Earlier this year, Waterloo Region Councillor Michael Harris shared his encounter with an international student attending Conestoga College who is living in the Dune area near the campus who shares a home with 13 students.
Harris argues that there have been tens of thousands of international students arriving to study at Conestoga College in Waterloo Region, but the school has made a minimal effort in increasing its student residences. Additionally, Harris mentions that homeowners and landlords are also to blame as he has become privy to situations where driveways are being rented out to students so they can live in their cars and use the washroom in the house.
Housing situations like this are unfortunately commonplace for international students as a CBC article highlights the prevalence of illegal and unsafe housing arrangements that are geared towards vulnerable international students. In the article titled “Sharing bedrooms, infestations, scams: What some international students have to endure to find housing,” Bd Srinivasan, a Conestoga College student, shares her personal horror story. She pays $550 a month to live in a basement with six other students which is currently infested with bugs, which has resulted in her needing medication.
The excessive and irresponsible granting of study permits to international students is a problem throughout the nation, but Conestoga College is a major contributor to the problem. Like many measures at local, provincial and federal levels, it is reactive once again as study permit caps for 2024 have been decreased by 35 per cent from 2023. Yet the problem is that unsustainable and unethical growth in the international student population has already become a deep-rooted issue in the Waterloo Region, where international students are given acceptance letters by Conestoga College but there is simply a lack of infrastructure or responsibility by the college to housing them properly.
Students are becoming victims to the rampantly increase in hate crimes against South Asians who make up 80 per cent of the international students in Conestoga College. A report published by Waterloo Regional Police reveals that between 2020 and 2023, 387 race-based hate crimes were recorded, with approximately half of them occurring in 2023. Over the years, Black individuals were the most targeted individuals in these hate crimes but there has recently been a spike in hate crimes against South Asian individuals.
Videos across southern Ontario, including in Kitchener showcase hundreds of students lining up to compete for a handful of openings. Last winter, a video shared on Reddit showcased how 300 students lined up in Kitchener for a chance to be hired at a job fair. While at a local job fair in downtown Kitchener, Kal Tire received 700 applications for the 10 job opening they had available, with the primary demographic of employment seekers being international students. Again, Conestoga College does not seem to bat an eye to their students becoming victimized or having adequate housing, rather with international students paying three times the domestic rate to students, they are simply seen as cash cows.
With no clear solution in sight, we can hope that more strict regulations and standards are put in place so that post-secondary institutions can align with ethical and sustainable methods of enrolling international students. Take University of Guelph for example which only has six per cent of their student body being made up of international students, additionally they are committed to guaranteed housing for international students. University of Waterloo offers a residence guarantee for all first-year students and is actively developing a new strategy to expand on-campus housing. Wilfrid Laurier University has partnered with business to increase the resources available to international students to find housing. Yet Conestoga College is far behind in providing support for its students, and it is already well overdue.
As the housing crisis continues, students are also affected and as the school semester begins in September, international students will especially be feeling the heat of uncertainty. We must not blame international students but understand that they are victims of greedy, unethical and unsustainable practices performed and exacerbated on all levels.
Leave a Reply