As BC Budget hails Coast Mountain College housing plans for Terrace, Prince Rupert accommodation plans remain more of a Five Year plan

It was a short mention in last Tuesday's BC Budget, but for Coast Mountain College officials it was an indication that housing needs for students remain very much on the radar for the provincial government.

We're partnering with post-secondary institutions to build thousands more student housing beds. Because we want our young people to focus on gaining the skills, knowledge and experience they need to provide for themselves and help power B.C.'s economy. -- Finance Minister Carole James during the 2020 Budget Speech on February 18th. 

And while the Terrace campus can perhaps look forward to some active construction in the near future towards their housing plan, for Prince Rupert the housing ambitions appear to be more of a long range project.

Still in the planning phase it would appear, with few mentions of the need for campus housing heard from City Council in recent years, nor any indication if the Council membership has been holding any kind of engagement towards providing for housing on the North Coast.

The quest for some campus housing has been a rather long running project, originally introduced by former Mayor Jack Mussallem prior to the 2014 municipal election.

However Mr. Mussallem's past public enthusiasm towards securing local college housing, doesn't seem to have made it as high up on the priority list for the current city council.

The topic of Coast Mountain College rarely makes for much discussion at City Council sessions and curiously for a council that likes to look to the future; there has yet to be any kind of update from the City as to the pace of negotiations or timeline towards one day having similar housing options as those found in at the main campus in Terrace or the Smithers campus.

The last we checked in on the housing theme for Prince Rupert was back in September of 2019,  recounting at that time some of the long history that still has yet to deliver any accommodations for students of the Prince Rupert campus.

Following last weeks budget speech, we followed up on those notes with Sarah Zimmerman, the Executive Director of Communications for Coast Mountain College:

On the housing theme, Ms. Zimmerman noted that:

 "We know there is a need for student housing in Prince Rupert and we are currently exploring options for the community there. Coast Mountain College has student housing in its five-year capital plan and we continue to look at options that could work in the community of Prince Rupert"

The need for campus housing, seems even more desirable now than even just a few years ago, that as Coast Mountain College expands their reach for students, with a growing number of International students choosing to attend programs at the local campus.

We took note of the growing numbers of students last month, with the International experience, along with the needs for those from this community and outside the North Coast area something that should suggest that progress needs to be found towards moving the timeline for housing in Prince Rupert a bit further ahead on the calendar.

For more notes on Coast Mountain College see our archive page here.

A wider overview of City Council discussion themes can be explored here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.