With the school year about to start many students cannot afford basic needs: TD Poll
Vaisanen said students are having a harder time paying for basic needs such as hygiene products. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm
According to a recent poll done by the TD Bank Group 65 per cent of post-secondary students define themselves as financially unstable.
Between the end of July to the start of August of this year, over 500 students enrolled in a post-secondary institution and 515 parents of children currently enrolled in post-secondary were polled.
The poll found that 65 per cent of students define themselves as financially unstable and 45 per cent of students are currently unable to adequately cover basic needs such as food and housing.
This is a concerning number for the British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) which works to support students and runs campaigns aimed to make the institutions and communities better and more equitable. The BCFS is a provincial alliance of 14 university and college students’ unions across the province, including the Vancouver Island University Students’ Union (VIUSU).
CHLY spoke with the chairperson for the BCFS Jessie Niikoi about the findings of the poll. She said while this poll had a lot of surprising figures, the issues it brings to light are not new.
“Our current post-secondary education system is one that costs a lot for students, so there are a lot of things that students are having to face, in addition to post-secondary, especially with the cost of living crisis that we are in B.C.,” Niikoi said. “This figure is nothing new and it's just bringing to light how bad it is.”
She said she hopes this recent poll will get people to start talking about the costs students face while attending post-secondary school.
“Because we know that the reason for why this is happening in post-secondary specifically, is because post-secondary is expensive. So we're hoping the provincial government actually addresses the costs or addresses what is happening when it comes to the cost of post-secondary,” Niikoi said. “Our system is facing deficits in different institutions, and institutions are not properly funded by the government.”
Niikoi said the provincial government needs to take steps to make sure upfront costs are there for institutions so they can run the services they need without having to increase costs for students.
“We know there's a B.C. Access Grant provides grants to students if there's more infusion of money into that stream, and it helps students have to that going to school that have to go to school without coming out of school in debt, because then they would have that upfront money available to them, and they don't have to pay that back,” she said.
Niikoi said the BCFS is calling on the provincial government to address the funding issues happening in post-secondary institutions so the schools do not have to rely on students to keep the campus lights on.
For student and Indigenous Students’ Representative for the VIUSU, Leah Vaisanen has heard from friends, classmates, and other students how the rising costs of groceries and housing are affecting their day-to-day lives.
Much like Niikoi, the findings of the poll did not come as a surprise to her as she saw how students were struggling to cover costs.
“I'm surprised it's not even higher just seeing how much students are struggling on campus,” Vaisanen said. “It's awful, it's so heartbreaking to see and notice it firsthand being in the community and noticing students–you can tell that their energy is low in classrooms.”
She said she has seen students go to school full-time while still working and having to live paycheck-to-paycheck.
She said the government needs to look at what is happening on campus and with students. She mentions that with rent prices increasing, there is a need for more on-campus student housing.
“Having more residences on campuses for students because, for example, at Vancouver Island University, it fills up so quickly,” Vaisanen said. “If you're on a waitlist, and you're not going to get in like, what are you going to do for housing? You're going to be spending X amount of dollars, and how rent prices have been skyrocketing in the last year, it's impossible.”
Currently, construction is underway at the VIU Nanaimo campus as the addition of a new student housing building with 266 beds and a new dining hall is being built. This new building should increase student residence space from 536 beds to 802 beds with completion scheduled for summer 2025.
Vaisanen said students are having a harder time paying for basic needs such as hygiene products.
“How can someone pay $12 for deodorants? It doesn't seem feasible to spend that much money,” she said.
She mentioned a recent project she started working on with one of her professors that will provide two hot meals a month, as well as non-perishable food and basic hygiene products for students in need.
“Because we can see even in classrooms, when students are not getting properly fed, [because] it's expensive to buy groceries nowadays, so probably most students are just gonna buy the cheap thing, like a slice of pizza or a cheeseburger. That's not healthy,” she said.
As students are having a harder time covering basic needs such as food, Vaisanen said the VIU Students’ Union is finding new ways to help aid students in lowering their grocery bills by offering a breakfast bar in the morning with free coffee, cereal and fruit. The union also participates in Nanaimo Foodshare’s Good Food Box program where for $15 students and staff can get a box full of fresh fruits and vegetables every week. Students can pick up their Good Food Box at VIUSU’s office, or have it dropped off to them at the campus residences.
She said while the prices of groceries and housing go up, the VIUSU is continuing to look for new ways to support food security for students.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.