The Provincial Government says that it will be adding 800 new student housing spots to the University of Victoria by 2022.
The new housing will be part of a mixed-use complex that also includes a dining hall, small grocery store and Indigenous student lounge.
During a teleconference Monday morning, UVic Vice President Gayle Gorrill said that 75 per cent of students at the institution come from outside the Greater Victoria area.
“Victoria has one of the most competitive housing markets in Canada with a vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent.”
The project will cost approximately $232 million in total, with the Province providing $128 million.
The government says this is the first major capital project at the campus since 2016.
While the new dining hall is under construction, students will be able to dine at a temporary 500-seat modular facility from September 2020 to July 2022.
A temporary 500-seat modular dining facility will be operational from September 2020 to July 2022 for students while the new dining hall is under construction. The new hall is expected to open in 2022.
The temporary dining hall has sped up construction estimates that had pegged completion of the new housing facility in 2023.
With this new estimate, the government says students should be able to move in by 2022.
