Off-Campus Living

Report by Tina-Marie H.

How to find a nice and affordable place to stay in Nanaimo

While planning your trip to Canada, you might also think about your accommodation for your time at VIU. In general, there are two possibilities: on campus and off-campus living.
On campus living refers to the VIU residences which are located on campus. They offer different kinds of rooms, such as private rooms with shared bath or communes where you share an apartment with three other people.

Off Campus Living – Home Stay & Peer Stay

For off-campus living, you have three options: homestay, where you live together with a Canadian family and meals are included in the rent. It is a great way to become familiar with the Canadian culture and I mainly recommend homestay for people who are staying for the first time alone in their life, do not really like cooking or just what to make life easy.

From my former personal experience with homestay in Canada, not as a student but as a traveler and worker, I have to say it is quite expensive compared to cooking by yourself and you might experience homestay in a different way than expected. It all depends on the family. Peer stay is more or less like homestay but you cook your own meals.

Off Campus Living – Own Apartment

My personal favorite is option three of off campus living: find a place by yourself. If you are looking for independency, freedom or the opportunity to stay with your friends, this is the best you can do. I used www.kijiji.ca, but you will also find interesting offers on www.craigslist.ca. You can place a want ad or you reply to existing ads.

What you should consider:

Look for furnished rooms, rent announced in a monthly amount, utilities included, move in/move out date, location (bus stop nearby?), pictures…
I decided to stay on Hammond Bay which is actually an area not next door to VIU. But the public transport is quite good and it takes about 30 minutes to get to VIU, waiting time not considered. Hammond Bay is a nice and quiet area; it usually takes only a few minutes to get to the ocean. You will also find a new opened Vancouver Island Library branch where you can study, borrow books and media as well as use group meeting rooms for free.

Renting a Place – How does it work?

So how does it work to get an accommodation through www.craigslist.ca etc.? Once you replied to an offer, you will get quite fast an email response and the landlord will indicate whether the place is still available or not and what explains the next steps. Usually, they will ask you for a Skype interview, where you can give them a call or even have a look at the place by yourself if you are already in Canada.

The Skype Interview is easy – the landlords would like to get to know you a bit better, some might ask you some questions about your studies and also introduce their house rules. However, it is a great opportunity for both sides to find out if it is the right place for you and if you are the tenant they are looking for. And that is basically it. You might be asked to provide a deposit which is usually about a half month’s rent and you will get it back on your move out date.

In general, it is not necessary to sign any formal contracts. The landlord or your roommate will provide you with their rules and that it all. Nevertheless, I encourage you to have a look around your room before and take pictures if you feel that old damages should be documented.

So far, I have chosen this kind of accommodation in Canada three times now (as a student and several years before) and never had any problems. Therefore, it is in my opinion not necessary to have a tenant insurance that is offered/recommended by VIU but this might depend on your situation.

I wish you good luck :)