Photo by Amanda Erickson/The Griff

The initiative includes a 10-year affordability requirement

MacEwan University students will soon see more affordable housing options downtown as the City of Edmonton rolled out a new student housing initiative on Friday, March 20. The initiative aims to increase student housing supply while keeping rent affordable. 

Backed by the federal housing accelerator fund and a part of Edmonton’s housing accelerator program, the student housing initiative will support five downtown projects aiming to add 500 student-designated units near post-secondary campuses, transit, and core amenities. 

Rent for these units will be capped at the city’s average monthly rental rates. 

For 2026, those rent averages are:

Bachelor: $1,108

One-bedroom: $1,285

Two-bedroom: $1581

Three-bedroom: $1,775

Four-bedroom: $2,077

These averages are updated by the city every year.

The city has controls for shared units with multiple bedrooms, with the maximum amount to rent a bedroom being 80 per cent of a bachelor suite, which is currently $886. 

These units are to remain designated for students and must follow rent caps for a 10-year period. After that, rent and designation control will be up to developers, allowing the units to transition to market rentals.

According to city officials, the money allocated to these projects must be used by November 2027. Some of the projects are already underway, which means students could see new housing options within the next year or two, depending on construction. 

City officials also pointed to MacEwan, Norquest, and NAIT as key driving forces behind the initiative. 

As the student population and downtown community continue to grow, the city’s program aims to ease pressure on the rental market and increase downtown population while supporting a more accessible, student-focused housing landscape.