Names unveiled for new student housing at College of the Rockies (flickr.com)

Media Contacts

Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training

Media Relations
250 508-5030

Heather Jackson

Manager, Communications and Marketing
College of the Rockies
jackson@cotr.bc.ca
250 489-8258

Backgrounders

Student housing investments provide homes throughout province

The Province is investing in student housing as part of Homes for BC, a 10-year housing plan that includes building 8,000 on-campus student housing beds (5,000 Province-funded, 3,000 institution self-funded) by 2028.

To date, 7,615 new beds (4,584 Province-funded, 3,031 institution self-funded) are complete or underway, enabling more British Columbians to have affordable housing alternatives to pursue post-secondary education and taking pressure off local rental markets.

Provincially funded projects include:

Interior:

New student housing already open

  • 533 beds at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. Total project cost is $38 million ($25.5 million provincial funding).
  • 220 beds at University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna. Total project cost is $24.9 million ($18.7 million provincial funding). Opened September 2020.
  • 100 beds at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook. Total project cost is $19 million ($12.9 million provincial funding). Completed December 2020.

New student housing underway

  • Okanagan College campuses in Vernon (100 beds), Salmon Arm (60 beds) and Kelowna (216 beds). $66.5 million provincial funding.
  • Selkirk College in Castlegar (112 beds) and Nelson (36 beds). $23.3 million provincial funding.

Lower Mainland:

New student housing underway

  • 398 beds at University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford. Total project cost is $73.7 million ($62.3 million provincial funding).
  • 362 beds at Capilano University in North Vancouver. Total project cost is $58.2 million ($41.5 million provincial funding).
  • 469 beds at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby. Total project cost is $114.5 million ($108.5 million provincial funding).
  • 386 beds at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. Total project cost is $103.5 million ($73 million provincial funding).
  • 368 beds and an academic space at Douglas College in New Westminster. Total project cost is $292.5 million ($74 million in provincial funding for the academic part of the project; $128.3 million for the student housing from the BC Student Housing Program).

Northern B.C.:

New student housing already open

  • 108 beds at Coast Mountain College in Terrace. Total project cost is $21.6 million ($20.6 million provincial funding). Opened Oct. 14, 2021.
  • 12 beds at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George. Total project cost is $5.3 million, fully funded by the province. Opened Sept. 17, 2021.

 Vancouver Island:

New student housing already open

  • The first 398-bed building with dining facilities opened on Sept. 1, 2022, at the University of Victoria. The second 385-bed building is under construction and is scheduled to open in September 2023, for a total of 783 new beds (621 net new and 162 replacement beds). Total project cost is $229.2 million ($127.9 million provincial funding).

New student housing underway

  • 217 beds at North Island College. Total project cost is $65.9 million ($63.9 million provincial funding).
  • 266 new student housing beds at Vancouver Island University. Total project cost is $87.8 million ($87 million provincial funding).

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