HOUSING OVER PROFIT CAMPAIGN: WHAT DO WE DO?
The Advocacy Office’s Housing Over Profit Campaign centres on advocating for creating, maintaining, and protecting deeply affordable housing for students by engaging with multiple stakeholders such as the University of Ottawa, the provincial government, the federal government and other community organizations.
At the same time, the Housing Over Profit Campaign, has been working on engaging students to be more confident in advocating their own rights through community events, workshops, tabling, etc.
If you are interested in being involved with housing advocacy or have any questions about the campaign, please contact us.
STUDENT HOUSING EXPLORATORY CAUCUS (SHEC)
UOSU launched its first ever Student Exploratory Housing Caucus (SHEC), which was composed of 4 students, 2 UOSU board members, and 2 of UOSU’s executive office staff. The caucus was created to collect data, validate the real challenges that students face with renting and fight back against the “broke student” stereotype.
In 2025, SHEC expanded its research to explore the experiences of international students in renting. While also creating an expansive housing resource directory to assist students in advocating for their housing rights.
SHEC 2024-2025 REPORT
The purpose of this report is to consolidate the findings of the SHEC survey, explore the issues faced by student renters at the University of Ottawa, and develop concrete policy recommendations for relevant authorities including the University of Ottawa, the City of Ottawa, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada.
In this past year, SHEC has:
- Created and distributed over 1500+ “Tenant Rights” brochures to further inform students on their rights.
- Hosted a Housing Caucus Report Launch party that had over 100 attendees, including; non-profit housing groups, city counsellors, members of parliament, university administration, and other key stakeholders!
- Presented to City Council on our report findings
- Had meetings with City staff and developers to implement housing policy that support students
- Led a large-scale study and created a report on the state of student housing in Ottawa
- Created a list of Policy recommendations for relevant authorities, including the municipal, provincial, and federal governments.
RENTING 101: YOUR RIGHTS & OBLIGATIONS
SHEC has gathered information on your rights as a tenant! What are your rights as a renter and what are your obligations.
Find our tenant rights pamphlet below!
Download Tenant Rights PAMPHLETHOW TO FIND A PLACE TO RENT
SHEC also wants to help you find a place to live! From where to start your search to what neighborhood best suits you, to the steps you should take to making sure the place isn’t a scam, click the button below to find everything you need!
