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�鶹���� has released its Housing Strategy to help advance the state of student housing at �鶹����’s, presenting a range of new options on campus over the next 10-15 years.  

Key priorities for �鶹����’s are returning to the full first-year student residence guarantee and expanding housing options for research-based graduate students, including those with accompanying family members.  

The Housing Strategy identifies three locations that will add approximately 3,000 beds over the next 10 to 15 years. These include:

• An Clachan, which currently houses graduate students and their families. The strategy proposes adding approximately 1,200 beds – creating a total of 1,600 – through redevelopment.
• Existing community housing properties on Aberdeen and Clergy can add approximately 350 new beds for graduate and upper-year students.  
• New residences on West Campus can create 1,000 beds primarily for undergraduate students, which will be the first housing project initiated as part of the strategy.

Over the last three years, �鶹����’s has worked with a range of partners to shape the strategy, understand housing needs, and determine an economically feasible approach to housing. A housing demand study that reached nearly 4,500 students at �鶹����’s, an analysis of the current housing market in Kingston, and an economic feasibility study all helped inform the strategy.  

“The housing strategy is designed to help address existing housing needs, rather than accommodate enrolment growth that is well below the potential number of new beds identified in the strategy,” said Donna Janiec, Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) at �鶹����’s. “As this housing is built, it will provide the flexibility to renovate and modernize older residences, expand housing options for research-based graduate students, and help us reestablish our full first-year residence guarantee. Ultimately, this additional capacity will also help ease pressure on Kingston’s rental market and contribute to a healthier, more affordable housing environment.”

For the last decade, �鶹����’s has also been involved in City-led efforts to understand the impact of ongoing private sector development in the areas identified by the City of Kingston as priority areas for intensification such as the Williamsville neighbourhood. The need for additional housing is particularly pressing in Kingston, where the residential vacancy rate was just 2.4 per cent in 2025, well below the four per cent generally considered necessary for a balanced housing market.  

“We have been an active participant in City-led efforts to understand and address housing needs and pressures,” added Janiec, “We are committed to being part of the solution, and to supporting the university’s Bicentennial Vision by ensuring the �鶹����’s community is able to meet its housing needs into the future.”
 

Exploring new partnerships to accelerate development

To help deliver the strategy, �鶹����’s is pursuing Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) to finance, build, and manage new student housing facilities. This approach, in use at other Ontario post-secondary institutions, frees up debt capacity for academic infrastructure priorities in support of the Bicentennial vision.  The partnership structure ensures that �鶹����’s maintains control of all Student Life responsibilities, and requires developers to adhere to �鶹����’s Building Standards

The new residence at West Campus will be the first P3 housing project that the University will move forward with.  This will be a lengthy procurement process as �鶹����’s seeks the best partner with whom to work.  The earliest potential date that the residence will be open is fall, 2031.
 

Planning for future growth in Student Housing

The Housing Strategy establishes a long-term direction for expanding student accommodation, strengthening the student experience, and supporting a more sustainable housing future for both �鶹����’s and the Kingston community.  

For more information, see �鶹����’s 2026 Housing Strategy.