Students returning to the University of Manitoba were in for a wake-up call when it came to securing their parking spot for another academic year. In a few weeks’ time, thousands of students returning will be looking for a place to park. “Especially this year was a lot worse; in the past I’ve been quite lucky, joining and being only a few hundred in line and this time I was 11,000th in line,” said Ashley Scott, starting her fourth year this September. On Tuesday, Scott joined an online queue, trying to get a parking pass. Minutes into the wait—she realized she was out of luck this year. “I was freaking out; I had two devices going,” Scott said on Friday. “I had to just close my laptop and just face it that I wasn’t getting one. They were sold out. I had friends messaging me saying, ‘Hey, we got in, and it sold out, so don’t bother wasting your time anymore.’” Scott said she was lucky to get a spot for the last two years. She said the university should use the money they make from parking and add more spots. She said the U-Lot across from Princess Auto Stadium is the right place to start. “I understand that they can’t really grow outwards anymore with parking but up is the only answer to me,” Scott said. “It’s the biggest parking lot in the university and like to me, there could be a pretty big parkade there.” It’s not the first time this concern has been raised. The University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) said it’s been an annual problem for a long time. As of fall 2025, there were more than 27,000 undergraduate students and nearly 32,000 total on campus. “Let’s build parking spots up instead of building out,” said Heaven Kaur, UMSU president. “We’ve talked and advocated for providing more students opportunities to carpool. So having more carpooling permits that will encourage students to carpool rather than come to campus individually.” CTV News reached out to the University of Manitoba administration for comment. They acknowledged the request—but have not yet responded. Neelofar Vahora buses or bikes to campus. Vahora said other people are getting around the problem by using social media to offer carpooling. “Let’s say that I have a carpooling service; I’m coming here with my car and have a parking spot,” she said. “I will get other people on Marketplace, and then we can carpool together.”
