This week’s feature is about our local shelters who are giving beds to unhoused people during cold and snowy nights. I want you to broaden your perspective on what an “unhoused” person looks like and consider the fact that in 2019, there was a shortage of 14,300 student beds in Metro Vancouver. Last semester, I was reminded of how precarious it is to be a renter in a housing crisis.
After a rapid falling out with a roommate, I lived alone for two months in a suite that cost 70 per cent of my monthly income until I was able to secure a new roommate. Luckily, I had a number of supports I could fall back on in times of financial burden: two months’ worth of living expenses saved in a separate “rainy-day” account, a family I can ask to spot me a few hundred dollars when I’m in a tough spot, and a steady, living-wage job. If any of these supports had fallen through, I would quite literally have had to move back into my car on the cusp of winter. I am reminded of just how fast things can go downhill for someone who doesn’t have the social safety nets of a privileged, middle-class white woman and how little UFV does to ensure their students have access to the most basic of human rights: housing.
I was able to save money in an emergency fund because I worked myself to the bone – working full-time while being a full-time student during the school year and working/living on a fishing lodge during my summers. I was also able to build this cushion while living rent-free with my mom for my first year of studies, and living out of my van for another three semesters after that. While saving at least two months of living expenses to fall back on is advisable, it is not possible for students who are only able to work part-time due to health concerns, have to care for children, or are not legally allowed to work more hours because of their student visa.
A 2020 study reported the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Abbotsford to be $1,100. The only way it is possible for students to afford a place on their own is if they earn well above minimum-wage, or if they work full-time on top of their studies. Even working full-time (40 hours a week) at a minimum wage ($15.20/hour) job, you would be spending 50 per cent of your income just to keep a roof over your head. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) considers households that spend more than 40 per cent of their disposable income on housing to be overburdened by housing costs. Based on this measurement, approximately 15 per cent of Canadian households are overburdened by the cost of housing.
There is no question that UFV is severely lacking student housing, resulting in students experiencing a lower quality of life and higher cost of living by needing to live in off-campus market rentals. Baker House currently has 200 beds, enough to house just 1.3 per cent of our students. There are plans to construct more student housing that will add 400 more beds, allowing a whopping 4 per cent of students to live on-campus.
One easy way to keep the cost of housing down is to have a roommate (or multiple), or to live in some sort of communal housing situation. The problem with roommates is that whether you are living with a random person you met over Facebook Marketplace or a close friend that you’ve known for years, having a roommate can be unreliable. There are communal housing options available, such as renting a room from a homeowner or living in a youth housing project like Atangard, but again, you may be sacrificing your mental health if you disagree on basic household issues like cleaning schedules, pet ownership, or noise levels.
If you are in dire straits and need some emergency assistance to avoid eviction, there are some options available to you. The Fraser Valley Rent Bank, operating out of MCC BC in Abbotsford, provides one-time emergency loans for housing expenses like utility deposits, security deposits, and rent. UFV also allocates Student Emergency Funds to students with “unforeseen financial difficulties that are beyond their control and prevent them from reaching their educational goals.”
Having secure, affordable housing is crucial to your quality of life and overall well being. UFV can do so much more to ensure their students have homes: build more student residences, sponsor community living projects, create networks for people searching for roommates, pay students who work on-campus a living wage, and offer household supplies like cleaning products, cookware, and even furniture to those just starting out. By doing the bare minimum, UFV is ensuring their students remain in a state where they are all just a few missed paychecks away from being homeless.
Image: Laura Ayres / The Cascade
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.