Boiler malfunction forces 1,400 students to leave residence at UW

Posted Jan 17, 2025 02:31:31 PM.
Last Updated Jan 20, 2025 11:59:57 AM.
Over a thousand students were forced to leave their residence at the University of Waterloo due to a broken boiler.
On the evening of Jan. 12, a boiler at the UW Place residence malfunctioned, causing the building not to have any heat or hot water. By Monday afternoon, university officials determined it was too cold for the students to stay.
Rebecca Elming, the administrative director of media relations at the University of Waterloo, said around 1,400 students were impacted.
“Some have stayed with friends and family, some have gone to other residence spaces on campus and some are being accommodated temporarily at hotels across the region,” said Elming. She notes that around 800 of the 1,400 impacted are staying at hotels.
In the meantime, the building is still accessible to students where they can cook and gather their personal belongings but officials are urging them not to stay overnight. Elming said it is “fairly uncommon” for the boilers in the residence buildings not to be working.
Elming notes there is no timeline on when students can be back in residence, but crews are “working around the clock” to fix the problem.