With Kingston offering the fourth most expensive rental market in Canada, City Council has decided a new strategy is needed.
The Kingston City Council passed a motion on Feb. 3 to develop a Student Housing Strategy following the adoption of the new Official Plan. The strategy is set to consider ideas such as new zoning tools, density permissions, built-form guidelines specific to student housing, and partnerships with institutions and the private sector.
Councilor Conny Glenn, who first moved this motion, spoke to The Journal about why she brought the idea to council.
“The motion really is to make sure that we’re [the city] doing a fulsome plan for everybody who lives here,” Glenn said. “For far too long, we haven’t considered students as constituents, and that has to change.”
She explained her frustration with the current cost of student housing in Kingston, recognizing the difficulty of paying such high rent while simultaneously paying for an education. She said that multiple students have come to her explaining that their living conditions are poor, but they’re afraid to file a report, as they have nowhere else to go.
Glenn suggested that, to create better student housing conditions, Kingston must be zoned in a way that better allows for densification and encourages building for students.
“If we stop finger-pointing, and the adults get together in the room and start actually working and fixing the problem, then we’re going to make progress,” Glenn said. “And that’s what I see coming.”
The Journal also spoke with David Gordon, a professor at the University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning. He suggests three main strategies for dealing with the housing situation in Kingston, the first of which is encouraging the creation of more student residences to reduce pressure and reliance on the local housing supply.
“I’m very proud of [the new residence we built on Albert Street], we just need about 10 more of them,” Gordon said. “And we should have some graduate residences. Grad students here, they can pay rent 12 months a year.”
He claims the space for these residences exists, whether that be on property the University already owns on Clergy Street, or over the parking lot behind Stauffer Library. “The main problem seems to be that the University doesn’t rush to invest in housing,” Gordon said.
In a written statement to The Journal, the University claimed that they’re exploring future opportunities for more student housing on university-owned land, both on and off campus, and are in the process of developing a Queen’s housing strategy to guide future housing and renewal projects.
The second pillar of Gordon’s strategy for bettering the housing situation involves encouraging the development of purpose-built student accommodations to again reduce pressure on the local housing market. He referred to the soon-to-open Hive, or the new Unity Place building on Princess St., as examples.
“These are developed by companies that are experts in student housing, […] they’re managed really well,” he said. “The only problem is when they’re new and when there’s a shortage of other housing, it’s very expensive.”
The third idea Gordon suggests is encouraging near-campus densification through the development of back-lane suites and mid-rise apartments. He suggested that something of the Hive’s scale should be built on every intersection of Johnson Street and Brock Street. Then, spaces that currently hold two houses and 10 bedrooms could instead offer closer to ninety bedrooms.
He also suggested that Queen’s students band together to set up a non-profit housing corporation that can be used to invest in the Kingston Student Housing Co-op, to help them buy and build more houses for students. “In the end, the only way that things are going to stay affordable is if they’re owned by a non-profit,” Gordon said.
City Council will be presenting the cost and estimated timing for the completion of the Student Housing Strategy in the second quarter of 2026.
Tags
affordable housing, city council, housing, housing crisis, Queen's student housing, Student Housing, Student Housing Strategy
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