Saanich residents will have two opportunities this week to learn more about plans by the University of Victoria (UVic) to build more on-campus student housing, a development that promises to ease housing pressures throughout the community.

UVic announced last month it is moving ahead with the planning for new on-campus housing. The proposed residence will house 600 undergraduate and graduate students, who currently live off-campus. The proposed development would increase the number of on-campus residences to 2,900.

Saanich residents can learn more about this project this week, when the university hosts two public engagement sessions.

The first takes places Thursday in the lobby of UVicB次元官网网址檚 University Centre from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m, the second Saturday at the Gordon Head Recreation Centre, from 1 to 4 p.m.

The proposed facility would consist of two buildings near the current Student Union Building on Ring Road inside the current residence precinct.

Kristi Simpson, UVICB次元官网网址檚 associate vice-president financial planning and operations, said the facility helps the university fulfill the strategic goal of creating more on-campus housing for its students, more than 70 per cent of whom come from outside the region.

B次元官网网址淭he demand for on-campus housing has exceeded the available space for a number of years, and the addition of more student housing is an important strategic objective for the university,B次元官网网址� said Simpson.

It is also a development that will resonate beyond campus borders, including in Saanich, home to a large share of not only UVic students, but also students attending the two Saanich-based campuses of Camosun College, which currently lacks on-campus housing.

Students attending both of these institutions represent a mixed blessing for their local housing market.

While they help finance many mortgages in Saanich, , a point frequently heard in recent years during against the rising costs of post-secondary education.

Non-students, meanwhile, such as families and other groups not attending post-secondary education facilities, have more permanent housing needs. Students, in other words, appear to be less attractive tenants than non-students from a financial perspective. This reality has made it difficult for students to find housing that meets their needs, forcing many to take unusual steps, such as living in their vehicles.

Faced with these conditions,

UVicB次元官网网址檚 plans for new on-campus housing offers to counter some of these trendlines. B次元官网网址 of the development comes against the backdrop of the 2018 provincial budget, which includes several measures designed to improve the supply of housing. They include among others a program worth $450 million dollars that allows

have praised this program, while urging additional measures.

As for UVicB次元官网网址檚 specific proposal, its Board of Governors will review it in late March for final approval.