First established in 1848, the University of Ottawa is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, with an enrollment of over 44,000 students and is a member of the U15. The University offers more than 450 programs in ten faculties.
The Scion Group conducted a student residence study for the University of Ottawa, including providing recommendations to guide the completion of the University’s housing strategy plan. The University selected Scion through a competitive bid process to provide services including the review, validation and identification of gaps in a preliminary housing strategy plan for the University’s housing service. Scion’s recommendations came down in three areas:
- Focus on housing first-year students and partner with the private sector to provide housing opportunities for students after the first year
- Align campus inventory to better reflect the preferences and needs of each group through renovation, replacement, or acquisition (through purchase or partnership)
- Expand intentional academic-housing integrations with structured living-learning communities collaborating with faculty.
Scion’s work included a detailed review of the off-campus rental market, stakeholder interviews with representatives from the University and the City of Ottawa, and a tour of the University residences. In addition, Scion analyzed an existing student survey, reviewed data such as Destination 2020 – the University’s strategic plan – and its in-progress campus master plan, and performed a market and demand analysis for student residences to plan capacity needs and unit types for the future of campus housing at the University of Ottawa and/or housing partnerships with purpose-built student housing off campus.
In 2019, Scion was re-hired to assess the site plan possibilities for new housing on campus and near campus based on available land. Scion’s recommendations addressed the impacts of the location of each site on operations during the construction phases of the plan as well as after construction. Scion also assessed student travel issues between the sites and campus for issues of safety and attractiveness to lease.
uOttawa again engaged Scion in Fall 2021 to develop a strategy for campus housing that included an updated Student Housing Market and Demand Study, a review of student engagement strategies and tactics, and capacity planning through new builds and partnerships. uOttawa plans to grow by a net of 2000 student beds, which, due to the decommissioning of older buildings, means new builds of nearly 3500 beds in the next decade. Scion’s plan provided a market and demand study updated to the new Ottawa PBSH market, pandemic impacts, and a shifting international student market, as well as a strategy for planning to move forward with new capacity without losing the ability to house all first year students that wish to stay on campus.