U of G welcomes record number of students moving in, retrofits rooms to accommodate more students

A record number of University of Guelph students will be moving into their new homes on campus over the weekend.

To meet the demand for residence, the school has converted some rooms to fit more students.

“Very excited, little bit nervous, pulled in, very long line, but that’s alright. Just excited to unpack,” said Jacksyn Brand, who is moving into residence.

Brand is an incoming first-year U of G student from Burlington who is living on campus at Maritime Hall.

The room he has been assigned to will be a tight fit for him and his roommates.

“[It's] a double alcove, but they have three people in it now. So it will be a little bit crammed, but that’s alright. [It’ll] make us closer,” said Brand.

The university is welcoming about 5,000 students to live on campus this fall. It’s the largest intake in the school’s history.

“I think it’s going to be exciting, more kids, more fun, more parties… who knows,” said Brand.

To meet demand, Patrick Kelly, the interim director of student housing services, said they increased capacity by adding beds in rooms and converting common spaces into rooms.

“We’ve transformed some of our rooms to triple rooms from doubles, added some double rooms from singles and using some lounges and that kind of thing,” said Kelly.

It meant some students who wanted single or double rooms now have to live with an extra roommate or two.

One student moving in told CTV News they originally wanted a suite, but due to the university trying to accommodate more students, they ended up with a double room.

“Me and my best friend requested to be roommates and we got put into a triple with somebody else,” another student told CTV News.

Kelly said they have created approximately 400 additional residence spaces but only where it made sense to do so.

“None of our locations that we’ve expanded to are smaller than our other triple locations or double rooms,” said Kelly.

The university has also partnered up with the nearby Days Inn.

The U of G said 50 students will be living there.

“It’s funny we say it’s a hotel but it’s as close to campus as some of our residences in terms of walking and getting places,” said Kelly.