High rent prices near University of Guelph drives family to almost resort to van living for their son

A dire student housing situation has almost forced one GTHA family to take unorthodox measures for their son.

The mother of a University of Guelph student says rent for off-campus housing is so high their son has planned to live in a van while going to school.

Melissa and Jim, who are from Caledonia, have a converted van that the couple uses for camping adventures. Up until a week before the start of the school year, their son would have called the van home while attending classes this year.

He has since luckily found an actual room to rent.

A combination of OSAP, scholarships, and money from a summer job helped their son stay in residence in his first year. This year, however, the housing situation was tougher.

“I’m thinking maybe $550, $600 for a room but they were not. Anything that you wanted fairly close to the university was going to be at least $850 or more,” said Melissa. “Plus the bills on top of that,” added Jim. “So you’re getting up there $1,200, $1,300, $1,400 by the time the month’s done.”

Their son said he’d rather live in the van to save time and money commuting from Caledonia to Guelph.

Last month when the van was still their plan, Melissa took to Facebook to find someone who would be willing to rent out a parking spot to her son and inadvertently caused a minor online commotion.

Word of it eventually reached Guelph’s mayor, Cam Guthrie. “At first I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ But then all of a sudden, the screenshots of the parents that were asking for a parking spot started to come my way,” said Guthrie.

According to the latest rent report from Rentals.ca, the average price for a one-bedroom in Guelph is $2,023. A two-bedroom can go for $2,396. It ranks as the 12th most expensive city for rent in Canada.

Guthrie is part of the Ontario Big City Mayors caucus which recently put out a report on housing asking the upper levels of government for help.

“Myself as the mayor and all mayors we’re here to approve permits … We need more supply of housing all types, including student housing as well,” said Guthrie. “And finally, I would just say the building sector, the development sector has a role to play but so do universities and colleges as well.”

In a statement, a University of Guelph spokesperson said the school is developing a student housing strategy to plan for the future.

“This strategy includes assessing the available student housing supply and future student housing builds in Guelph; examining our Guelph campus and residence buildings in terms of expanding spaces for student housing; and completing a student housing market demand study by surveying students about their housing needs,”

They add they currently house 20 per cent of their total student population but continue to offer support for those looking for housing.

“The national affordable housing shortage is impacting students across Canada. At the University of Guelph, we are focused on both short-term and long-term solutions for our entire student population,” read the statement.

The spokesperson adds a report with recommendations will be available before the end of the year.