May 25, 2020

Acadia Park Tenants COVID-19 Response Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Acadia Park is a unique student housing neighborhood at UBC.  Unlike other student housing, Acadia Park tenants live on campus year round with their families. For these 585 households Acadia Park is their primary residence. 

COVID 19 has brought financial distress to many across the country, and while the federal and provincial government has introduced various assistance programs, Acadia Park tenants fall through the cracks for many of those. As Acadia Park is situated on University Endowment Lands (UEL), the tenants/students are ineligible to apply for the provincial rent subsidy as they are not covered by the Residential Tenancy Act. About half of the tenants are international students who are ineligible for CESB.

A group of tenants formed a COVID 19 Response Group to ascertain the extent of the financial distress their neighbors were facing. They administered a survey that was answered by 121 households and provides a grim picture.

The tenants have brought their concerns to the attention of senior university leadership, including Dr. Santa Ono (President and Vice Chancellor of UBC), Dr. Susan Porter (Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies), Dr. Andrew Szeri (Provost and VP Academic), and Andrew Parr (Director of Housing). They have also been in conversation with Hon. MLA David Eby. 

So far, relief measures from UBC include waiving parking fees for the summer terms, freezing annual rent increase, and a 17% reduction in tuition for PhD students. On May 1, UBC offered an Emergency Bursary for eligible graduate students (up to $3000) for the summer term. Acadia Park tenants/students have been advocating for rent relief in line with the provincial rent subsidy but so far have not been successful.

Many tenants/students are looking for work, homeschooling their children, continuing their research while worrying about paying their tuition and providing for their families. They are looking to UBC as their landlord, employer, university, and childcare provider to ease some of their hardship. 

More information on the survey results can be found here. 

By signing this electronic petition before June 15th, 2020 President Santa Ono, Dean Susan Porter, MLA David Eby, and other stakeholders are called to support the 2020 efforts that end this social crisis.

Media contact: acadiaparkcovid@gmail.com