University rejects province's housing money

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Fredericton’s St. Thomas University has rejected the government’s offer of money to help build more student accommodation – a plan that was supposed to help ease New Brunswick’s housing shortage. 

And the province says the other three public universities have “shared some concerns” about what they’ll have to pay to make the idea a reality.

Last month, Greg Turner, the minister for Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL), told a legislative committee that $12 million had been allocated to be split between the four universities during the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

He claimed it was new money, and a new initiative.

During his appearance, Turner estimated that about 60 per cent of the money would go to Université de Moncton, 30 per cent would go to the University of New Brunswick, and Mount Allison University and St. Thomas University would get five per cent each.

In an email, STU spokesperson Ashlen Albright said that “we decided that the funding made available to STU did not make the construction of new student housing a viable option for the university and our students.”

“We continue to explore housing options and if the right opportunity presents itself, we are more than willing to collaborate with the province at that time,” she added.

The strategy, released last summer, says that the government will “develop and launch the NB Public Universities Student Housing On-Campus Fund.”

“PETL will provide financial support to the four publicly funded universities to increase access to student housing on campus,” the strategy reads. “This support will include grants to cover pre-construction investments and provide annual grants to cover interest costs for up to 25 years. This fund will begin with a one-time investment of $12.8 million that will help spur over $200 million in total development commitment.”

The goal, according to the plan, is to “incentivize up to 3,300 net new ‘beds’ across the seven campuses of the four public universities in New Brunswick,” and “free up market housing for non-student New Brunswickers.”

On Wednesday, the province said STU has time to reconsider its decision.

“While universities have shared some concerns in relation to the financial commitment, cost of materials, and the cap on international students, only STU has indicated it does not intend to access this funding,” said Paul Bradley, a spokesperson for Turner, in an email.

“Conversations are ongoing with other universities and the door remains open to STU should it reconsider its position. Our government continues to negotiate with the other institutions and we are confident these discussions will lead to solutions and enhancements for our public universities.”

Brunswick News twice asked to speak to Turner, but was told he wasn’t available.

In an interview, Gabriel Cormier, Université de Moncton’s vice-president of administration and human resources, said he suspects the $12 million isn’t actually new, and was rolled over from the province’s housing strategy, announced last year. 

“If it’s new money, they haven’t talked to us about it,” he said. “It’s new in a sense that it’s the first time government has, for as long as I know, offered money for residences to the universities.”

Cormier said Université de Moncton is still negotiating with the province, but whether it will accept the offer remains to be seen. The budgeted money, he said, is for “pre-construction costs,” including “the groundwork, engineering designs, feasibility studies, and things like that” – not to help actually build the new residences. 

“We need a good business model for these residences – not because we want to generate profit, but because we don’t want to construct housing where we have to charge $1,800 a month or something to students just to break even,” Cormier said. 

“The problem is, it’s affordability just as much as availability. So how do we build new construction with the construction costs being what they are right now, and yet still keep it affordable for our students?”

In an email, Mount A spokesperson Alexandra Montana said no one was available to comment, and instead sent a statement from Robert Inglis, its vice president of finance and administration.

“Mount Allison prioritizes the well-being of our students and will collaborate with the province and other levels of government to address housing challenges,” Inglis said.

“The university is open to opportunities that will benefit our students with the goal of providing suitable housing options both on and off campus to enhance the student experience overall. The university also recognizes it is an important contributor to the Tantramar region and, as such, supports projects related to non-student housing where those projects also make sense for Mount Allison.”

Asked for clarity on whether the university intends to take the money, Montana said Mount A “is open to opportunities that will provide suitable housing both on and off campus and also supports projects related to non-student housing.”

She also later added that Mount A has received $150,000 “to assist in investigation and design work for our student residences,” and that “we are currently in discussion with the government regarding further funding to support another student housing project.”

A spokesperson for UNB identified only as “Kathleen” said no one was available for an interview.