Postsecondary students are facing a housing availability and affordability crisis across Canada that is creating barriers for students to succeed academically and professionally, yielding negative impacts on students' overall physical and mental well-being. Today, rental housing costs on average 2x the cost of tuition for Canadian domestic students, and is one of the most significant barriers to postsecondary education for international students in Canada — up to 5% of students will experience some for of post-secondary student homeless over the duration of their academic careers.

In the City of Mississauga, on-campus housing growth and development has been limited, while off-campus housing policy has lagged behind the need/demand for affordable student housing options, including for multi-tenant (rooming) houses for students. Despite conducting a market demand study, the University of Toronto Mississauga Campus (UTM) is not currently pursuing any new housing development, which impact access to housing for student enrolled at UTM, as well as Mohawk College (Mississauga Campus), Lambton College (Mississauga Campus), Sheridan College (Mississauga Campus), as well as private and careers colleges in Mississauga.

Notably, there is a gap in research on the current student housing landscape in Mississauga. HOUSE aims to fill this gap by conducting policy-based research on on/off-campus in the region, with an emphasized focus on housing options at/near the UTM.

Research Goals include:

1. Identifying current policies on lodging houses and accessory units which impact postsecondary student housing in Mississauga and near UTM;
2. Adapting existing student housing research surveys and tools to be distributed to students across Mississauga;
3. Collecting data and evidence to support policy recommendations which support postsecondary student in Mississauga and near UTM;
4. Analyzing the data to identify key findings and insights to bring to the federal, provincial, and municipal government stakeholders in Mississauga.

Anticipated Project Outcomes:

1. Develop a regional student housing survey to collect data on the student housing landscape in Mississauga;
2. Distribute the regional student housing survey to students enrolled at post-secondary institutions in Mississauga;
3. Field research/canvassing to collect data near post-secondary institutions in Mississauga;
4. Analyze survey data to identify policy-related trends and outcomes for student-renters in Mississauga;

Anticipated Project Deliverables:

1. Develop a research report on the student housing landscape in Mississauga;
2. Develop a policy brief on municipal housing policy in Mississauga;
3. Developing a presentation on the impact of municipal housing policy on the student housing landscape in Mississauga.