Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario is making changes to speed up construction of student housing projects, says the minister of municipal affairs and housing.
“Access to safe and affordable housing is crucial to the success of all postsecondary students,” Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said last week at the University of Western Ontario in London. “For too long in Ontario, red tape was making it difficult for our partners to build homes.
“That’s why our government has been taking action to remove those barriers and make it easier to build housing of all types, including student accommodation. Today’s announcement is a testament to our government’s focus to unleash opportunity across our province.”
Ontario has exempted publicly assisted universities from the Planning Act to enable these institutions to build more student housing faster and better meet the needs of their student populations. These universities, like publicly assisted colleges, are no longer subject to many municipal planning approvals, which can save years in approvals, avoid planning application fees, and remove barriers to building higher density student residences.
Calandra also toured the construction site of a new student housing at the University of Windsor.
The new building at the intersection of Sunset Avenue and Wyandotte Street West is a six-storey build with 238 units, and 452 beds, six community lounges, a house lounge, shared laundry facility, and a 275-seat food hall.
Construction started in April 2023 and is expected to be completed in time for the September 2025 school year.
Key construction elements include a two-storey wrap-around glass dining hall offering a variety of restaurant options, six community lounges, a house lounge, and a shared laundry facility.
“Every time you go by that site, you can see we’re getting closer to completion,” said Gillian Heisz, vice-president of finance and operations. “The building will help transform the housing landscape in Windsor.”
The project is the result of a public-private partnership with Tilbury Capital, a real estate investment and development firm.
Michael Kaye, a partner with the company, says the construction is progressing as planned with structural work underway.
“We have poured about 2,100 cubic metres of concrete for the foundations and another 500 cubic metres for the slab on grade,” he says. “Now even casual observers will be able to see a difference week-to-week as the above-grade work starts to rise.”