Premier pledges 800 new UVic housing units by 2022-23

Close to 800 units of new UVic student housing now under construction will help ease the crunch in the capital region’s tight rental market, says Premier John Horgan.

The first of two buildings is to open in 2022, with the second opening in 2023. Units will be offered at market rent, Horgan said.

“Whether you are a new or returning student, you know that finding affordable housing near campus can be a difficult assignment,” he said.

Students have been struggling in today’s job market to get work and save money for school because of the impact of COVID-19, he said.

The project includes two new housing buildings and a new 600seat dining hall outside Ring Road, south of the Student Union Building.

The structures will replace the Cadboro Commons and two older residential buildings, the Margaret Newton and the Emily Carr. Work on the construction site started in January.

The buildings will have traditional dorm rooms and new community-living-style rooms, which include single rooms with a shared kitchen and living area, UVic’s website says.

The project features 621 new beds and 162 replacement beds, a 600-seat dining hall, a commercial kitchen, a small grocery store and a coffee shop. New student group and study spaces — including an Indigenous student lounge — communal social spaces, laundry facilities and secure indoor bicycle storage are planned.

With 75 per cent of students arriving from outside Greater Victoria, it has long been a priority for UVic to provide more on-campus housing, said Gayle Gorrill, vicepresident of finance and operations.

A temporary 500-seat modular dining hall will be ready this fall and will be used until the new one is completed in 2022. Setting up the short-term dining hall allowed the plan to be moved ahead one year to 2022.

The $232.4-million project is the first major capital project since a new capital plan was developed in 2016.