A housing crackdown at Oshawa’s University of Ontario Institute of Technology and nearby Durham College could force as many as 500 students out of their homes.
With 5,000 undergraduate students at UOIT, 5,500 students at Durham, and only 1,300 residence spots available, some students have opted to live in the subdivisions surrounding the institute, transforming suburban homes into overcrowded and illegal student houses. As many as nine students live in some houses, with the driveways packed with five to six cars. Not everyone is pleased with the rental housing boom—a city bylaw is set to pass this week requiring landlords’ property to be licensed, and the number of bedrooms in the houses to be capped at four.
According to a January news release posted on UOIT’s website, students are concerned that the bylaw will significantly increase housing costs, potentially forestalling their education, and even discouraging prospective students from choosing the college or institute in the fall.
Fraser McArthur, president of both UOIT and Durham College’s student association, points out that the university cannot function without students. However, City Councillor and chair of the committee for the bylaw Louise Parkes says that there are health and safety concerns that are impossible to ignore.
President Ron Bordessa of the institute does not plan to discuss the bylaw in a special council meeting this week, but said that he hopes city councillors will reconsider their decision.
