Group of UW students organizing against incoming rent increase

Recent announcements from the Ontario government around tuition and the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) mean post-secondary students will have to pay more for their education.

When you add a significant rent increase, some students are being forced to make very difficult decisions.

The University of Waterloo is planning to increase the rent for students living in the Columbia Lake Village (CLV) residence.

Now, some of those students are organizing to fight the rent increase they say is unfair and disproportionate.

Gaia Noseworthy is a tenant at CLV and is a master’s student at U-W. They are also the membership officer for CUPE 5524, representing contract instructors, graduate student teaching assistants and graduate student research assistants. Some of those members live in CLV.

They reached out to 570 NewsRadio to express their concern with the rent increase and the impacts that will follow.

Noseworthy said the school plans a rent increase of 9 per cent, which equates to an extra $90 a month for a single grad or $136 a month for family units, with the increase set to come into effect in August.

“This is on top of the exact same rent increase they did last September, also at 9 per cent for a 20 per cent increase total. They told us the primary reason was for maintenance and maintaining services, but they’ve actually decreased those services in the same timeline.”

Noseworthy said an example of the service cuts is snow clearing. They said in the past, snow would be cleared in a matter of hours. Now it’s some days before the walkways are cleared.

They added the lack of communication between the school and the tenants has been particularly frustrating.

In a statement to 570 NewsRadio, UW said, “We recognize that students are concerned by fee changes; that’s why we consulted with student governance groups and held a community Town Hall prior to decisions being made.”

But, Noseworthy said that Town Hall didn’t hit the mark.

“I think ‘shallow’ is the word I want to use. There was a lack of depth. It was more along the lines of ‘this rent increase is happening, deal with it.’ And that’s about it in terms of communications. Some people have sent emails over, but they have mostly either gone unheard or felt dismissed, even if that wasn’t the intent.”

Noseworthy wasn’t buying the line that the increase was partially for maintenance. But the school explained in its statement why the maintenance required the rent hike.

“Prior to 2024, rate increases remained modest for more than a decade, which has limited the pace of critical upgrades. Many of our residence buildings are more than 50 years old and require significant reinvestment.”

The statement went on to say, “As an ancillary operation funded directly through housing fees only, the University is adjusting fees to maintain safe, high-quality living environments.”

Regardless of the reasoning, the fact remains that those living in CLV will be paying more next year, unless the school reverses its decision.

“A lot of people are getting really worried about their future. Many of the residents here have talked about leaving CLV entirely and a few people have told us they’ve turned down offers for graduate studies at the University of Waterloo because the recent announcements have made it unaffordable.”

Noseworthy and the group organizing against the rent hike have reached out to local politicians, both at the municipal and provincial level and have been receiving assistance from ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada, a tenants rights advocacy group.