Upset with delays in the construction of 1 Columbia, a group of students marched Friday to the offices of Schembri Property Management.
The Waterloo building was expected to be ready for occupancy by the start of the school year.
Schembri, the building’s property manager, blames issues with sub-contractors for delays that have it behind schedule.
Friday’s march was organized by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group.
A spokesperson for the group told CTV News they wanted to show their support for students affected by the delays.
“Today was to show Schembri that the students are organized, they have the support of campus organizations like WPIRG,” Alex Diceanu said.
The students – many of whom said they had signed contracts to move into 1 Columbia – dropped off letters asking for their deposits to be refunded.
If that doesn’t happen by next Wednesday, they say, they will take their case to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
“For my friend and me, as international students, we paid a five-month deposit,” said University of Waterloo student Steven Zhang.
“It’s around $3,000 on that, so we want to get it back.”
When requesting a comment from Schembri for this story, CTV News was told to fill out a form on the company’s website, and did so.
No response was received by 6 p.m. Friday.
Previously, Schembri representatives had said they were extremely disappointed that delays in construction have let down future tenants and that they expect tenants to be moved in within a couple of weeks.
They have also said that all students affected by the delays have been provided with hotel rooms or alternate accommodations, as well as other amenities.
