As Toronto’s residential development crisis deepens, industry attention is increasingly turning to niche housing typologies, including student housing. Despite recent reductions in international student visas, postsecondary institutions across the GTA continue to face a shortage of affordable, purpose-built student housing—pushing many students into a still relatively competitive rental market and placing added pressure on surrounding neighbourhoods.
Recent legislative reforms, including Ontario’s Bill 185, aimed at streamlining approvals by easing zoning, site plan, and development charge requirements, are further stoking interest in both on-campus and off-campus student housing models delivered through partnerships with educational institutions and independent ventures.
Join ULI Toronto for a candid discussion on the realities of student housing delivery. Drawing on perspectives from planning, law, institutional leadership, and private development, the session will examine risk, return, and readiness—and what it will take to deliver student housing more effectively at scale.
MODERATOR:
Dayna Gilbert, Managing Director, Real Estate Development, Forum Asset Management
PANEL:
Safdar Abidi, Principal, Practice Leader, Perkins and Wills
David Bronskill, Partner, Goodmans LLP
John English, Head of Development, Canada, Tricon Residential
Joseph Yun, Director, Real Estate Transactions and Asset Management, York University Development Corporation