Rye’s new residence building more expensive than average Toronto apartment

By Isabella Lopes

A new Ryerson residence opening on Jarvis Street in the fall will be the school’s largest and most expensive student residence yet, with two-bedroom units costing more than the Toronto average.

At HOEM, students have the option between two, three, and four-bedroom apartments, where bedrooms are private but bathrooms and kitchens are shared.

A two-bedroom apartment totals $19,300 (about $1,608 per month), a three bedroom $18,050 (about $1,500 per month) and a four bedroom at $17,050 (about $1,416 per month).

Payments are taken in six installments over a 50-week lease, unlike other Ryerson residences, which are on a 32-week lease. This means students living in HOEM who go home or out of town for the summer will have to sublet their units or pay while not living in them.

Residents will also need to pay utility fees which are estimated at $35 per person per month.

In Pitman Hall, another Ryerson residence, double rooms range in price from $10,495.06 to $10,815.06, including a meal plan.

Tom Laroche, a first-year Ryerson student living in Pitman, says HOEM’s prices do not cater to students. “Ryerson needs more residences, but they need to create affordable and practical options,” he said.

Ryerson can currently house about 850 students in its residences and is working to open more.

“Residences like [HOEM] are for wealthier students or students who have their tuition paid by parents,” said Juan Carranza, a first-year student who commutes to campus. “I can’t afford to move downtown…I was really hoping [HOEM] would be cheaper.”

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rental statistics for September 2017, the average price for a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto is $1,326 monthly, or about $282 less than a similar unit in HOEM.

While it costs more than the average rent to live in HOEM, the residence is asking about 40 per cent less than the average asking price in Toronto. According to a City of Toronto report, the average asking price (the price landlords advertise) for a two-bedroom unit was $2,252 in February.

HOEM is currently accepting applications for students to move in by the Fall 2018 semester. The application fee is $50.