University of Guelph working on new first-year residence

A rendering of planned residence building at the University of Guelph. This rendering is an early artistic concept and is subject to change. (Courtesy: University of Guelph)

The University of Guelph says it will be building a new first-year residence as demand for student accommodation continues to put pressure on the school.

A plot of land, at the intersection of College Avenue West and McGilvray Street, has been chosen as the future site for the new on-campus student residence. Currently, conceptual designs show two buildings on the property.

According to a news release from the university, the residence could house 1,500 students and include a dining hall, kitchen, multi-purpose rooms and sports equipment. The school, however, is still early in the design process and have put out a Request for Proposal for an architect to lead the development and oversee construction.

The new building could open within the next four to five years.

It would be the first new housing development in 25 years on the school’s main campus.

Struggling to find housing

The announcement comes after first-year students told CTV News they had trouble finding suitable housing arrangements for the 2024-2025 school year. Similar issues were also reported in 2022 and 2023.

Parents of the first-year students said they were reassured by the University of Guelph that residence would not be an issue. Then, they were later told they wouldn’t have a guaranteed spot in residence for the fall.

In June, the school sent out emails to 1,365 first-year students letting them know they had been put on a residence waitlist.

At the time, Gwen Chapman, the school’s provost and academic vice-president, told CTV News the university had planned on accommodating students in residence, but it was impossible to know exactly how many students would ultimately pick the university as their school of choice.

“The challenge is that many students are applying at multiple universities, five or even more, so we know that probably most of the students that we make offers to may not accept our offer, and they will decide to go somewhere else.”

Chapman explained the school made predictions based on acceptance rates from previous years, but this year, the numbers led them astray.

“As early as April we were realizing that the response and the requests for residence were getting high and we weren't sure that we would be able to accommodate everybody,” Chapman said. “It was about two or three percentage points higher than last year, which actually results in a significantly higher number of students.”

She added that in the week leading up to the June 3 deadline, the school started to get concerned about the final tally. Then they realized they had a very real problem.

“Many students, much more than last year, accepted our offer over the last weekend. A week before the deadline, we knew we were doing well, but it wasn't until the actual deadline that we that we got all of those numbers,” said Chapman.

Adding more beds

In a release, the school said the University of Guelph’s Student Housing Services is trying to add up to 250 more beds for first-year students for the fall 2025 semester.

The school also said it has changed its communications process for residence guarantees.

“This year, residence will be guaranteed for Ontario secondary school students who receive an early offer of admission by March 1, 2025,” the release said. “To secure this guarantee, these students must complete their residence application on or before April 15, 2025. Previous residence guarantees for international and out-of-province students as well as those who deferred their offer of admission from the 2024/25 school year remain in effect.”