Thousands of students flock to new homes for move-in weekend
Posted Aug 28, 2025 07:42:44 AM.
Last Updated Aug 28, 2025 10:54:09 AM.
Waterloo Region is set to get a little bit younger, smarter, and busier this weekend as thousands of students move into housing in preparation for the first classes of the fall semester.
From Thursday to Sunday, first-year students at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Guelph will be filling U-Hauls and box vans with their belongings and moving into their new homes.
At UW, 5,000 new students are set to move in between Thursday and Sunday, with move-in times spread out in 30-minute intervals throughout the weekend.
“The students will be moving pretty equally spread over the four days of move-in,” said Pamela Hurvid, manager of marketing and communications for housing at the University of Waterloo. “They’ll be moving in across all our on-campus residences, so we should see some increased traffic around University Avenue and Columbia Street.”
Seagram Drive and Lester Street will be partially closed starting Friday for the student move-in, and Regina Street will be partially closed starting Saturday as well.
Student residences at Wilfrid Laurier University are located near the residences for UW, meaning their move-in traffic will affect similar roads to the UW move-in, including Columbia Street, University Avenue, and King Street.
In the Royal City, students at the University of Guelph begin moving in on Thursday evening, continuing until Saturday.
To help students move in, Gordon Street will be closed between Stone Road and College Avenue, and a number of on-campus roads are set to close as well.
According to Hurvid, students accepted residence contracts at a higher rate this year compared to last year, which she said could mean they had concerns finding housing off-campus. The university was able to accommodate all students who were guaranteed a spot in student housing.
“We always look to be 100 per cent occupied, we want to provide housing to as many students as possible,” said Hurvid. “This year is very typical of previous years, where we are full, but we did meet the residence guarantees.”
Next year, the University of Waterloo will be able to accommodate even more students at its on-campus housing by adding a new student residence on University Avenue. The new residence is set to add 500 beds to the school’s housing stock.
