Georgian College students struggle to find housing for fall semester

The new school year looms for many post-secondary students who haven't been in the classroom in years due to the pandemic.

As Georgian College students migrate back to Simcoe Muskoka, they are faced with similar challenges as the rest of the region—limited affordable housing.

To help ease the pressure of finding a temporary home, the Barrie-based college has teamed up with Place4Students to connect students with landlords.

"We would love to feature them on our database to get students into those rentals, so our work is really just labour intensive. We're on the phone making calls and sending emails, searching and reaching out," said Mark Taylor, Places4Students.

According to Georgian College, on-campus housing at Barrie, Orillia and Owen Sound is filled and has an extensive waiting list.

It's unclear how many students need off-campus accommodations, but the school has hired a full-time staff member to do community outreach to local landlords and is paying for free landlord listings.

"If there are people in our community that are thinking of re-listing their room or putting up their property for lease to do so now because over the next few weeks students will be arriving," said Mike Zecchino, the manager of student housing and community engagement at Georgian College.

Landlords interested in listing their property or room can do so on Places4Students website.