No guaranteed spots in residence for incoming first-year students at U of G

Residence worries at U of G Parents worry first-year students won’t have a place to stay when the fall semester begins at the University of Guelph. Jeff Pickel reports.

Housing remains a persistent problem for incoming first-year students at the University of Guelph.

Similar issues were also reported in 2022 and 2023.

The school confirms they have created a waitlist this year and a spot in residence is not guaranteed.

Parents of incoming first-year students tell CTV News they were reassured by the university that residence availability would not be an issue.

“When we went, like we did, the whole university visits and everything else, everything was presented to us that residence was not a problem,” said Mike Lau, the father of an incoming first-year student.

Other parents told us about similar experiences.

“Our tour guide told us that there would be no problem getting accommodations for residence come September 2024 so we applied for the school,” explained Laura, who is also the parent of an incoming first-year student, and asked not to share her last name.

She feels misled by the school.

“I don't want to be lied to, but the tour guide shouldn't have told us that there would be no problem, because that’s what we remembered.”

There is also frustration.

“The stress level in my house is ridiculous right now. The uncertainty is just too much to handle, really,” added Laura.

For her daughter, the University of Guelph was the first and only choice.

Mike Lau’s son, however, had numerous other options. But now it’s too late.

“He got accepted to pretty much every single university that he applied for with guaranteed residences,” Lau explained. “If we knew this sooner we probably would have chosen a different place to go.”

Now that the university acceptance deadline has passed, Lau said they have limited options.

“It's basically too late, he can't go anywhere he's stuck.”

According to the University of Guelph, they’re working on a resolution.

“Weare still confirming the final number of students who have completed their residence applications. More information will be communicated with students who are waiting for a confirmation of residence early next week,” the University of Guelph said in a statement.

The parents who spoke with CTV News feel communication has been lacking.

“I joined a Facebook parents group and I'm finding I'm receiving so much more information on a Facebook group than I am from the university,” Laura said.

Lau added that the lack of information makes it hard to know where they stand.

“They will never tell us how many people are on that waitlist, I might be sitting at number 87 or 187? Out of how many students? I don't know.”

Along with the stress and uncertainty, there are financial implications as well. Families aren’t sure if they’ll need to look for pricey off-campus housing.

“Now we're kind of scrambling, trying to figure out what to do, where to get the funds, because living off campus is a lot more expensive,” Laura explained.

CTV News reached out to the University of Guelph for an interview but no one was made available.