Editorial: Student housing project is a win

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The provincial government deserves credit for advancing a housing project aimed at university students, to alleviate the housing “crunch” affecting the province.

It’s not a sophisticated concept, but still one with merit. Namely, students don’t need to live in permanent housing like apartments, which the public needs more. Instead, they should be provided with student housing as a temporary home while they study.

The breakdown of the funding for this program by institution, as reported in a Brunswick News story last week, is less important than the principle: It’s better to find inventive solutions to housing shortages than to wield a blunt instrument, such as trying to cut back on the number of students because of housing supply issues.

Ideally, the province and its university partners will be able to take students entirely out of the general housing market. That may not happen overnight, but it should still reduce the number of people vying for a single unit in a given university community.

It might also be an interesting way to pilot inventive projects more widely, including public housing and housing co-operatives as alternatives to the housing and rental markets.

At just $12 million for the first year, this program isn’t about to undo our housing struggles – but on the margins it will reduce some of the fierce competition and prevent students from having to unseat local apartment-dwellers for accommodation. That’s a win.