Accommodation / Housing

Choosing where to live while you are studying at UBC can be a daunting prospect. But there are plenty of resources to help you find the right place for you.

On campus

Strolling to lectures and getting home late – there are many advantages to living on campus.

Graduate Student Colleges

UBC has two residential graduate colleges that offer accommodation dedicated to graduate students, visiting scholars and Postdocs:

Both Colleges require a separate application. The Colleges have compulsory meal plans.

UBC Student Housing

The UBC Housing website contains information about other on-campus housing opportunities that are available to all students. The residence overview provides some guidance to which residence might be most appropriate for you. Please note: general on-campus housing is in high demand. You will have to apply very early to be able to receive a placement in time for your program start date. We recommend to apply for on-campus housing at the same time you apply for a graduate program or as early as possible when you know you will attend UBC!

Once you have applied, you can check your waitlist position through the online service centre at https://secure.housing.ubc.ca/

Tip: as graduate student you have a better chance to get into on-campus residence when you apply for year-round housing. If you apply for winter session only, you will compete with all undergraduate students who have priority for this group.

MBA House

The MBA House is primarily for students in Business programs, but sometimes has rooms available that they offer to graduate students.

Meal Plans

Green College as well as St. John's College have compulsory meal plans which are an essential part of life in the College community. For UBC Student Housing Meal Plans are compulsory depending on where you live in residence. Totem Park and Place Vanier Residences have compulsory meal plans. For the other residences the meal plans are optional.

Students with mobility disabilities

St. John's College has a limited number of wheelchair accessible rooms available. Green College is not suitable for students with mobility disabilities. UBC Housing has several residences (e.g. Gage Apartments, Fairview Crescent, Thunderbird and Marine Drive Residences) that are suitable for students with mobility disabilities. Priority for assignment is given to students with substantiated disabilities, which would prevent them from commuting to UBC from an off-campus residence. Please contact UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services directly to get all details regarding availability and eligibility.

Off campus

If you prefer to live in the city there are lots of fantastic neighborhoods to choose from. Look at the map of Vancouver to help you decide. Make sure you visit the area in day and night before deciding to live in a neighbourhood. In general, you might want to avoid accommodation in the Downtown Eastside.

Neighbourhood or city

People new to Vancouver are sometimes confused about the boundaries of Vancouver. The metropolitan area includes several neighbourhoods such as Kitsilano, Kerrisdale, the West End or Downtown. However, it does not include Surrey, New Westminster or Burnaby which are all individual cities that belong to the Greater Vancouver region.

West Side

Vancouver's West side is convenient for UBC students because it's close to campus (15 to 20 minutes to campus by bus). West side’s main neighbourhoods:

Kitsilanio (Kits) – offers many apartments and is very close to the beach in what is considered a trendy neighbourhood.
West Point Grey and Dunbar/Southlands – these offer many basement suites.
Arbutus Ridge and Kerrisdale – offers single-family homes and apartment buildings.

West End

Some students choose to live in this trendy area of downtown (40 minutes to campus by bus). It's also close to the beach and beautiful Stanley Park.

East End

The East side of Vancouver is farther away from campus but is also cheaper. The Commercial Drive neighbourhood is popular for its diversity (35 to 40 minutes to campus by bus).

You can use these resources to explore the different neighborhoods:

Commuting

Translink manages public transport in Vancouver and offers a trip planner which will provide information to you about commuting times from various neighborhoods at http://tripplanning.translink.ca

Pet friendly accommodation

On campus housing does not allow pets. Vancouver in general though is very dog and cat friendly. You will find lots of off leash areas and dog parks etc. However, not every landlord allows pets in an apartment. Many of the newer condos in downtown (such as Yaletown) will probably not allow pets. This seems to be more flexible in the older buildings, e.g. in West End. AMS Rentsline allows you to search for pet friendly accommodation. Sometimes a landlord does state that animals are not allowed, but if you only have a small dog or cat they might agree to it. It cannot hurt to ask!

Utilities

When you compare prices for accommodation, make sure you are aware about utilities. In on campus housing several utilities are already included whereas you might have to pay for these when you rent your own apartment. Most commonly only the rental rate gets published and you will have to ask what utilities will be charged extra. Utilities can be things such as

Gas
Elictricity
Heat (depending on how the rental object is heated, it might add to your elictricity/gas costs)
Hot Water (depending on how the water is heated, it might add to your elictricity costs)
Internet (in rentals typically not included)
TV/Cable (in rentals typically not included)
Home Phone / Landline (in rentals typically not included)

If you get a room somewhere in a house or share a place, it is common that things like Internet, Cable and Phone are already available, but you will be asked to share the bills. In many apartment buildings heat and hot water are included, but in town houses or similar can be a significant added cost.

Further information

If you intend to rent a property privately, the Residential Tenancy website may help you find out more about your rights as a tenant.

Resources to help you in your rental search can be found on the UBC Housing website.

Other listings websites include:

Some of these web sites are known to provide platforms for scammers. Be careful with any offers that seem to be too good to be true - typically they are not true. You should never hand over money in advance, send it by mail, or transfer it without inspecting the accommodation beforehand and being sure that the offer of accommodation is legitimate.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies does not recommend any commercial enterprises, but provides this list of local services for information only.

Did You Know That?

UBC has an iSchool

The School of Library, Archival & Information Studies (SLAIS) at UBC is part of a select group of international schools - iSchools - with a common interest in the relationship between information, people and technology.

The University of British Columbia