Over 1,200 students move in to U of C campus as housing crunch eases

Over 1,200 students moved into campus housing at the University of Calgary on Sunday.

Over 1,000 University of Calgary students moved in to campus housing Sunday -- and there’s still a bit of room at the inn.

After a housing shortage and affordability crisis in 2024, the living is a little easier in 2025, said U of C’s senior director of ancillary services Shane Royal.

“We’re at about 99 per cent (and) we don’t currently have a wait list,” Royal said. “We exhausted our wait list, and we have a couple rooms here and there, so if somebody does show up, we do have space for them.”

Royal said somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300 students moved in Sunday, bringing the total number of students who live in campus housing to around 3,100.

“We’re really excited to have them here. It’s an exciting day,” Royal said.

First-year student Phillips Adomolafe, who’s from Brandon, Man., was excited to move in.

“It’s my first time I’ve ever been to Calgary,” Adomolafe said. “I don’t really leave my house much, so being in a new city -- it’s pretty exciting.”

Adomolafe is studying computer science and said he loves to code and can’t wait to start classes.

“There’s no parents here, so I could, like, I could talk to more people. But also I need to be responsible. It’s a whole new experience, and I’m really excited to do it.”

Caitlin Gilbert was one of 200 community ambassadors on hand to help welcome the new residents.

Gilbert, who’s in the second year of her masters program, said she remembered when she was a first-year undergraduate.

“I moved into the building behind us five years ago, and it’s so exciting,” Gilbert said. “There’s so many nerves, but when you walk out and there’s so many people helping you in so many events, it helps so much.

“But, yeah, it’s just moving away from home for the first time --both scary, but like, a really big day,”

First-year chemistry student Sydney Fu came from Winnipeg.

“It was very overwhelming,” Fu said. “But, like, the staff here are so sweet. They like, were cheering us on when we were walking in.

“It was so sick,” she added, “and then they brought everything up for us! It was nice. And then moving in was perfectly fine. It was just, like, pretty chill, I guess.”

She admitted it’s her first time living away from home.

“I’m very scared to be away from home, but I guess it’s a good change,” she said. “It’s nice. My brother always said it’s good to be away from home for university so that you can really focus on school. And that’s what really inspired me to go away.

“I’m so excited to meet all the people,” she added. “I can’t wait to make friends with everybody here!”

Overall, Fu said, she only had one regret.

“The drive here was so bad!” she said. “Do not drive from Winnipeg to Calgary! It’s awful.”

With files from CTV’s Tyler Barrow