Kathryn MacLeod is recently retired and was the Director of Residence Services at University of Victoria for 15 years.
We're coming off a tidal wave of headlines about how challenging the housing landscape is for Canadian institutions. Now that international visa caps are in place, what position does that put Canadian institutions in?
I'm glad we're doing this now before I completely forget my previous life! When it comes to student housing, it really depends on the institution. I’ve worked at three different schools, and some rely more heavily on international students than others. Some have been too reliant on them. At UVic, for example, we had high demand from domestic students, so international enrollment wasn’t as large a factor for housing. Some schools, particularly in Eastern Canada, were overbuilt in the past.
I remember a conference a few years back where I was talking to a colleague about our housing shortage. I think we were working with CRI at the time on demand analysis, and my colleague was discussing what to do with their excess housing. So, different schools are facing different challenges, but with the visa caps and international student restrictions—combined with the current situation regarding India—higher education is definitely feeling the impact.
Different institutions are in different positions, of course, but where do you see the general state of student housing five years from now?
That’s a really good question. I don’t know exactly, but I think I can say that before I retired from UVic, we were planning another new building. Overall, I think the next five years are going to be tough for higher education in general—across the board financially due to the reliance on international students and the revenue they brought in. While that could shift again in the future, right now I’d say schools are in recovery mode.
“It’s not enough to meet once a month to chat about operations; you need a holistic understanding of the institution’s enrollment and strategic goals. When you’re investing in student housing, you need to avoid overestimating or underestimating demand.”
From your experience, what's the biggest obstacle to getting a student housing project off the ground? Where do you see these initiatives getting roadblocked?
I worked at a smaller school, Vancouver Island University, before I came to UVic. We built student housing 15 to 20 years ago, and we were one of the last schools in BC to get a loan to build housing. Then the provincial accounting system changed, so schools couldn’t take on debt. That was the case in BC for many years, until the housing crisis shifted things. Eventually, the government recognized that the shortage of student housing was contributing to the broader housing shortage across the province.
Some larger schools, like UBC, were able to self-finance and keep building. But at UVic, we couldn’t build. Financial support to start projects was our biggest obstacle. Once a project is underway, there are always other challenges, but getting the funding to start is often the hardest step.
With so many headlines focused on the student housing shortage, what value does a well-executed student housing project bring to an institution?
Successful student housing can transform a campus. It creates an on-campus community and helps students build multiple smaller communities. Right now, families want their students to live in residence for their first year, sometimes their second, as it gives them a transitional experience as they leave high school and their family. Student housing is absolutely essential, and will certainly help ease the strain on local rental markets. In cities like Victoria, where rental vacancy rates are low, adding housing on campus makes a huge difference. The two new buildings UVic has added will make a big impact, and when they build another, it will help even more.
Having dedicated housing staff also makes a difference. Student housing professionals are focused on students 24/7. Residence life can change the entire feel of an institution when it is done well. It attracts students and their families when they hear about a well-run housing program with good meal plans and other community support, especially for first-year students.
“Twenty years ago, the work performed by CRI was less understood, but it’s now become essential. Institutions are under greater financial pressure, so they need solid data on demand to build sustainable housing.”
It sounds like UVic has taken a unique approach to creating living communities. Can you talk a bit about that?
It’s not unique to UVic—it’s done at many schools in Canada—but our team was very proud of our living-learning communities. We didn’t have any in place when I first came to UVic, so our Residence Life staff started developing them over ten years ago. A living-learning community might be a floor or two in a building dedicated to students who share an interest or educational focus. For example, we had a health and wellness community, and an Engineering community that was supported by the faculty. Much of the programming in these communities was themed around that focus.
Parents of incoming engineering students often called to find out how their students could get placed in the engineering community, knowing it would help them academically to be their with peers. When you bring people with a shared interest together in housing, it’s easier for them to form friendships and feel a sense of belonging. From the residence staff perspective, students in these communities had fewer community issues, because they were there with a shared goal and purpose.
Have you noticed any changes in how data is applied in housing decisions over the years?
Definitely. My background is in business and finance, so I’ve always leaned on numbers to guide decisions. Twenty years ago, the work performed by CRI was less understood, but it’s now become essential. Institutions are under greater financial pressure, so they need solid data on demand to build sustainable housing. Over my years at UVic, we did three demand analyses with CRI. Understanding the shifts in data over time was incredibly valuable. Numbers tell a story; they help guide decisions and predict trends.
Schools are more willing to invest in demand analysis now. It’s like choosing durable carpeting for your residence halls—you’re investing in the future. Without a data-driven approach, there’s a risk of creating housing that becomes a financial burden.
Finally, any advice for schools looking to align their residence strategies with their enrollment goals?
Definitely. At UVic, the relationship between residence services, the registrar’s office, and recruitment was invaluable. It evolved over time and became more critical as enrollment strategies changed, due to factors such as the effects of the pandemic and changing goals with new institutional leadership. If your enrollment strategies don’t align with your housing plans, you risk overbuilding, underbuilding, or building the wrong type of housing.
Achieving that alignment takes ongoing work. It’s not enough to meet once a month to chat about operations; you need a holistic understanding of the institution’s enrollment and strategic goals. When you’re investing in student housing, you need to avoid overestimating or underestimating demand, which means looking at all the numbers, consulting with teams, and making educated decisions based on what you know about the institution and where it’s going.