Students also say commuting, financial stress and other housing related issues can have an effect on their academic performance.
Affordable housing is the most important municipal issue for Ryerson students, according to a new poll.
Ryerson School of Journalism students conducted in-person surveys about Toronto election issues with 1,081 undergraduate and graduate Ryerson students in October prior to the municipal election.
Lyndsey Rolheiser, an assistant professor at Ryerson’s school of urban and regional planning said that while housing has been a major point of discussion in recent years, student’s needs are often left out.
“There is an identification issue from the very beginning,” she said. “They’re not identifying students as a group in need.”
Rolheiser also said that more access to funds for students would be a good start to address the issue of student housing.
“At Ryerson and U of T, it’s hard to increase university supplied housing, because we don’t have any space for that, she said. “What we need to have is more access to funding, so grants that students can apply for that are strictly for costs of living.”
Karlyn Knafo, a fourth-year real estate management student at Ryerson, rents her apartment but still has to commute for an hour to school.
She also said that the stress of paying rent directly affects her studies.
“When employment comes into the factor, you’re taking away from your study time,” Knafo said. “It ends up having an effect not only on your personal stress, but on your ability to manage your time at school.”
There are also students at Ryerson who commute from across the city, and aren’t able to live close to school because of the high rent prices.
Carina Cordoso, a fourth-year psychology student commutes to Ryerson every day.
“Every time I talk to my parents about moving out, I say that if I’m out of the house then I’m out of Toronto,” Cardoso said. “I’m not going to be able to afford to live here.”
She said that trying to afford a place downtown while balancing work and school wouldn’t be possible, so she chose to stay at home.
“You’re trying to do your best in school, but if you’re working to pay rent, then obviously your school is going to suffer,” she said. “It would be nice to have the freedom of living (downtown), but at what cost?”
Rolheiser pointed to a program like home sharing – which involves students renting an empty bedroom in the home of an older adult – as a possible plan of action to help students in need of housing.
“(Home sharing) increases a supply of housing for students, and it allows people who are living alone to have some kind of companionship and reliability with another person in their house,” Rolheiser said.
“It’s a doable project for Ryerson to think about.”
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