Ontario Sets Record for Student Housing Delivery in 2026 to Meet Surging Demand
Ontario builders are expected to deliver more than 6,300 new student housing beds this coming academic year, as constructing student housing becomes more desirable for developers, according to a report by real estate consulting firm Urbanation.
The number of projected new student beds being added to postsecondary schools in the province has shot up from 406 delivered in 2025 and 791 in 2024, Urbanation said, as more developers pivot to student housing during a downturn in the condominium market.
Urbanation also attributed the record number of incoming beds to the passage of the Ontario government’s Bill 185 in 2024, which eased planning requirements for student housing construction and encouraged public-private development partnerships for on-campus housing.
Of the total number of new student housing beds projected to become available in Ontario for 2026-27, 3,547 are “purpose-built student accommodation”, which is privately developed off-campus rental housing specifically built for students, while 2,766 units are on-campus beds developed by universities and colleges.
The growth of Ontario’s student accommodation market comes in the wake of Canada’s cap on international student permits. Last fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget slashed study permits to 155,000 in 2026, from an already reduced roughly 306,000 in 2025.
Ontario’s university enrolment has held relatively strong, while colleges face a starker drop in housing demand, said Urbanation senior director of consulting Sally Turner in an interview.
The jump in student housing – which often consists of shared multi-bedroom units with amenities – has been supported by developers converting condo spaces to student housing when they didn’t get enough pre-sales, Ms. Turner said, and by developers organically entering the space.
The largest number of new student beds are for the Greater Toronto Area, with 2,734 projected for completion this coming year, or 43 per cent of the provincial total, Urbanation’s report said. The Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton area is close behind at 2,491 beds.
Urbanation noted there is “a clear rent premium” that can be charged for purpose-built student housing, which rents for an average $8.09 per square foot in downtown Toronto, compared to the average of $4.47 per square foot in rent that a post-2000 purpose-built rental commands.
“Overall, if you look at it on a per square foot basis, student housing will give any developer the best returns at the moment within the GTA,” Ms. Turner said.
Developers are also able to charge premium rental prices by offering modern furnishings, a prime location and an elevated student residence experience.
“In that context, there is an ability for people with strategically located sites to pivot and just think, ‘Okay, maybe purpose built student accommodation is a better deal for me,’ ” Ms. Turner said.
Nationally, postsecondary enrolment peaked at 2.34 million in the 2023-24 academic year, according to Statistics Canada data, and began declining after Ottawa’s international student visa cap came into effect.
According to Urbanation’s data, there are 60,370 student beds in the proposed development pipeline – 41,298 of them are off-campus units. However, the report forecasts completed construction to slow in 2027 and 2028, “reflecting more challenging financing conditions that have persisted since 2024 and a thinner under construction pipeline.”
The region west of Toronto containing Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton had the highest ratio of on-campus and off-campus student housing to enrolment at 31.8 per cent, while the GTA had the lowest ratio at 11.8 per cent.
Ms. Turner said that with international enrolment down, more Canadian students are attending top-tier universities further from home, fueling purpose-built student accommodation demand.
“So, from our discussions with student housing operators – definitely slower demand this year, but overall it’s a positive picture in terms of overall continued growth.”
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
