The housing crisis in New Brunswick is affecting many students. In Moncton, some people have to deal with paying more, moving off campus, or finding a roommate.
Désirée Losier, who is entering her fourth year of studying education, until recently lived in an apartment with a roommate in Moncton.
I paid $1120 a month. There were two of us and we shared the price. Everything was included: water, heating, electricity, etc.
A few weeks ago, the owner of the accommodation informed his tenants that additional costs would no longer be taken into account.
It was a pretty old building. Electricity cost significantly more. It would increase prices quite a bit. We would start paying probably around $1,500 a month.
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Désirée Losier found an apartment a few days before the start of the school year, but can’t move in until October 1st.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Pascal Raiche-Nogue
Since the apartment was in an area that wasn’t safe enough for their tastes and didn’t really suit their needs, the two roommates decided to look for something else. Her budget was $1200 per month.
For weeks, they tried unsuccessfully to find affordable housing near the Université de Moncton – or a bus route that runs through campus.
I immediately started looking. I started applying to several housing companies. […] Unfortunately, everything was full, explains Désirée Losier.
Her lease expired on August 1st. Désirée Losier returned to her parents in Memramcook while her roommate moved in with friends. The start of the school year was getting closer and nothing was happening.
When I realized it wasn’t working and no one was answering me, the messages weren’t going anywhere, I felt like there would be no answers in the end. Somehow there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It stressed me out a lot.
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Students wait for the bus on the University of Moncton campus.
Photo: Radio Canada
Last Tuesday, a few days before university classes resumed, the two roommates finally found accommodation thanks to luck and contacts. Rent is $1255 per month, plus electricity.
It costs more than we wanted. But it’s a safe place, and that was pretty much our biggest point. It’s a 10-minute walk from the university and right next to the bus routes, says Désirée Losier.
The problem is that they can’t move into their new apartment until October 1st, in the middle of the university session.
This is another element of stress. But at least one load has been removed, at least we have found a place.
Go a little further
Pascal Dumont was also faced with rising rents in the greater Moncton area. This medical student had to lower his expectations to find accommodation at a price he found acceptable.
I originally wanted to go to the Dieppe region, a little closer to the university, but accommodation there was still quite expensive. There it’s around 1,500 to 1,600 US dollars. […] “I finally decided to go one step further to save money,” says Pascal Dumont.
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Pascal Dumont and Noémie Chiasson, medical students, live in the same neighborhood, about a fifteen-minute drive from campus.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Pascal Raiche-Nogue
He gave up the idea of living alone and chose an apartment further from campus, a 15-minute drive away. He and his roommate pay $1,425 a month, plus electricity and internet.
Pascal Dumont also says that his brother lived in the same building a few years ago and that he paid much less.
At the time it was $795, so that shows the price increase. It’s still impressive, he said.
Her classmate Noémie Chiasson also lives in this building in north Moncton. She pays $1,400 a month plus utilities for a two-bedroom apartment.
It’s still not that bad because there are two of us who have to pay. “But it’s still expensive because the price I pay now doesn’t include electricity and stuff like that,” she says.