As Coast Mountain College prepares to welcome students back with new housing in Terrace, Prince Rupert housing options remain under study

Last week the Colleges and Universities of British Columbia received some welcome news, with the provincial government advising them to prepare for a return of face to face education and for campus life to return to some semblance of normal this September.

As part of their update for students from last Tuesday, Coast Mountain College officials noted that this fall those attending the Terrace campus will be able to take advantage of expanded housing on campus, with the opening of a new student residence in Terrace.

An artists rendering of the new housing facility for 
Coast Mountain College in Terrace
(From Coast Mountain College website)

While the main campus on McConnell Avenue in Terrace continues to expand on housing stock, for the Prince Rupert campus, the prospect of housing for students in this area is still seemingly very much in the planning stages. 

Though as we learned in an email correspondence with Sarah Zimmerman, Executive Director, Communications for Coast Mountain College, no firm timeline as to when we may see campus housing in the community is ready to be announced.

"While we have housing in Prince Rupert and Smithers in our 5-year capital plan, and as a request for funding from the Provincial government, we do not have any projects or funding to announce in either of those communities. That said, we continue to look explore opportunities in both those communities."

That for the most part has been the college's view on housing for much of the last year and a half, though with a reduced focus on face to face education in the last year, housing probably has taken a step back in local priorities compared to program delivery.

Still, with Prince Rupert currently in a severe housing crunch and a growing number of International students having taken an interest in Coast Mountain Colleges programs; offering a solution to student housing in the city could soon be an important theme for the college to get to work on.

Towards any housing plans for the North Coast campus, the City of Prince Rupert recently made note of some changes to their zoning plans that will direct any such housing opportunities towards the downtown core of the community.

The City has also made the concept of student housing part of their current round of community consultation on their Official Community Plan and Zoning changes currently under consideration.

Ms. Zimmerman did note in her correspondence that the college is aware of the city's recent initiatives towards student housing in Prince Rupert. 

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

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.