KPU announces new affordable housing option for students

Kwantlen Polytechnic University has formed a partnership with SpacesShared, a home-sharing platform that allows students to rent with older adults who have spare rooms.

The platform functions similarly to a homestay, but emphasizes personalized matchmaking to pair students with compatible hosts based on detailed profiles that cover everything from eating habits to sleep schedules.

“It’s not just a random, ‘Here’s a spot,’ and you sign on for it,” says Zena Mitchell, KPU’s vice-president of students, adding students don’t need to worry about being poorly matched with hosts. 

Students can browse the profiles of potential hosts and schedule virtual meetings with them before choosing to sign an agreement. 

Mitchell says SpacesShared offers other unique benefits such as rent discounts for students willing to help hosts with household tasks and monthly agreements for those in need of short-term rentals. The average monthly rent students can expect through SpacesShared is around $500 to $850 per month.

KPU’s SpacesShared partnership aims to address students’ concerns with housing for the immediate future as they continue to wait for on-campus residences.

“KPU has submitted a student housing business case to the government of B.C. for an on-campus student residence at the Surrey campus,” Mitchell says. “We don’t have anything solidified just yet, but we’re continuing our conversations with the province.”

For Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, an international student at KPU and former faculty of arts representative during the 2024-25 Kwantlen Student Association council, a home-sharing option like SpacesShared would not be her first choice for housing.

“I think when all international students live together, [regardless] of ethnicity, that’s a really good option because you have all left your families and you are all trying to adjust,” Kochhar says. 

She finds for international students such as herself, being surrounded by others who understand the challenges of living far from home is a crucial part of adjusting to life in a new country. 

Living with a Canadian host doesn’t foster the same sense of community that living with other students does, Kochhar says, adding that many international students also worry about cultural or language barriers when faced with the idea of a homestay.

Like Kochhar, Mitchell says she believes the presence of an on-campus residence would “create a larger sense of community” for students.

“To have students living on campus would be really exciting,” she says.

KPU students can sign up for a free account on SpacesShared to learn more or to browse host profiles before coming to a decision. For more information, visit www.spacesshared.ca.