A new housing option is coming for students at Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo Campus.
The province will build a new residence at the campus that will house over 260 students and include a dining hall. In all, it will increase on-campus living by 50 percent as the current capacity sits at .
The building will be nine storeys high, built of hybrid mass timber, to comply with their Green BC initiative. The province is footing $87 million of the $87.8 million bill.
It’s part of an ongoing process that hopes to add 8-thousand beds to students in BC.
Minister of Advanced Education, Anne Kang says the initiative is a significant uptick compared to the last couple decades.
“Between 2001 and 2016, the old government only built 130 student beds,” says Kang. “We’re making up for lost time and building 8,000 student housing units across the province so students can find a place to live on campus and provide some relief for local renters in this tight rental market.”
VIU student Cole Reinbold says his residence life experience has been invaluable to his university experience.
“Living in residence really allowed me to excel at school because I didn’t have to worry about transportation,” says Reinbold. “This new building means more students will get to experience residence life and it will alleviate the stress of finding a place to live for many.”
They’re expected to break ground on the new building next spring, for students to move in by fall of 2025.
