Soon-to-be Windsor student says the search remains multifaceted

Justin Escoto · CBC News · Jul 08, 2026

It's crunch time for out-of-town students looking for housing in Windsor before the new school year begins. 

For medical radiation technology student Navjot Kaur Bajwa, the search for a place is a difficult one.

"It's affected me mentally," she said. "Even in the night, I have a hard time sleeping because the one think I'm thinking of is, 'is anyone going to reply to my posts? Am I going to have to go out of my way, maybe take another loan to pay for the rent?'"

It comes as Statistics Canada reports the average asking price for a one-bedroom apartment in Windsor is more than $1,500 per month as of June 2026 —  a 62 per cent increase over 2019. While rents in other cities have declined, in Windsor prices are flatlining, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says.

Bajwa, 26, is coming  to Windsor in August for the placement she needs to complete before she can graduate from Confederation College in Thunder Bay. She says the long distance search for housing has been challenging. 

"I do feel like it is unaffordable," she says. "My budget is $1,000, but then again, I'm going to have to choose not to eat out. I'm going to have to choose not to ever go out with my friends, I'm going to have to make so many sacrifices in order to pay $1,000. 

"So if it's actually $1,500, what the average is, it scares me even more."

These anxieties are not uncommon for local student unions, including the University of Windsor's Students' Alliance (UWSA) and the St. Clair College Student Representative Council (SRC).

RJ D'Aguilar, the UWSA's vice president of student advocacy, says the student union is aware of how heavily the housing crunch — and the search for it over the summer months — impacts students.

"Any additional stresses outside of the already rigorous academic burden can affect a student's ability to be successful," said D'Aguilar.

One of the risks facing students is misleading or fraudulent rental listings. To help combat that, he says the UWSA has been pushing students to use approved resources like  Places4Students  to ensure legitimate listings and lower-than-average pricing.

"The way that these listings keep the price down for students is that they are offering shared-style housing," said D'Aguilar. "So, there might be multiple units within the same structure, and those listings are carefully curated so that they're finding a balance between affordability and legitimacy."

Ali Hadwan is the president of the SRC at St. Clair College. 

He says that students can often fall victim to poor living conditions as first-time renters.

"Some students are new to the fact of renting by themselves or living alone," said Hadwan. "They will oftentimes choose to rent out a basement and it won't be all that safe, they'll be victimized to some landlords."

Windsor's recent Residential Rental Licensing (RRL) program, which targeted student-heavy wards 1 and 2, revealed 71 per cent of inspected units failed to meet basic housing and fire safety standards on their first try. 

The RRL program, which was paused by Windsor city council, will be discussed again next week.

The area's city councillor, Frazier Fathers, says the discussion about student housing isn't a one-size-fits-all approach.

"There's no silver bullet to the student housing issues," said Fathers. "I think those issues materialize in different ways for different students depending on where they are and what their financial means are and what their capacities are."

Fathers says he's noticed more availability of student housing in his west end ward, something he attributes to a cap on international students, but says he thinks there could be other solutions.

"One of the things I am thinking about is how do you integrate maybe these campus districts or something like that, that you see in some of these other communities?"

He pointed to other university districts such as around Carleton University, the University of Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier University — all of which have large student populations.

A student district could allow the city to add regulations amid other policy tools. But that can be difficult too, he said. 

"That's a delicate conversation because there's also long-time residents in these neighbourhoods," he said.

For Bajwa, she says she's unsure whether she'll find a place within her budget, but remains hopeful in her search.

"I'm going to stay optimistic because I don't have a choice," said Bajwa.

"I need to save my mental health and save just my well-being. I think unfortunately, it's going to stay the same for quite some time."

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/how-is-the-current-student-housing-market-in-windsor-9.7260609