Toronto seniors, international students become roommates to fight housing crisis

As Canada faces a growing affordable housing shortage, one Toronto-area college is pairing students with seniors in an effort to help find them accommodations as the school year begins.

Humber College has announced a partnership with online home share technology platform, Spaces Shared,to pair students looking for accommodation with seniors who have extra space as an affordable housing option. And according to the college, more than 500 students have already signed up.

Ian Crookshank, dean of students at Humber College, says students can save money through the pairings, easing the financial pressures they face.

"Students could receive a discount if they agree to do certain tasks around the home that might help around the house, like mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, or even just spending time and providing companionship," he said.

Students who sign up for the program can live with hosts and pay through an online platform. Homeowners with vacancies can sign up online, post an adand connect with students to find a suitable tenant.

Humber College isn't the only school trying to ease housing pressures through pairings with seniors. In April, Georgian College signed up for a similar program with Spaces Shared and another similaronline platform, Homestay, to pair domestic and international students with local residents in Barrie. Even at colleges without formal programs, some students have been making their own arrangements to stay with seniors.They say there couldn't bea better living arrangement.

'A blessing,' says senior

When Awofadeju Olajide Simon, a Centennial Collegestudent from Nigeria, decided to move to Canada, all of the options he could find were way out of his budget.

He was told by friends in Canadait wouldeasier tofind housing from within the country than writing to landlords in Torontofrom Nigeria.

"It wasn't. I was stressing out for days," he said.

Fortunately, one of his professors linked him up with an elderly couple, Hubert and Monica Campfens, in Toronto's east end.

LISTEN | How a 90-year-old and his international student housemate are doing their part totacklethe GTA's housing crunch:

The couplehas been renting out two roomsand a basement to international students for the past 33 years. They saythey like tosharethe whole house with tenants,and don't want them to be confined to their rooms.

Hubert was a young teenager in Holland during theSecond World War. He says his family took in two Jewish peopleand lied to their neighbours to protect them. He says those years left a deep impact on himthat continued to shape his experiences even after moving to Canada in 1953.

"I became concerned,particularly about minorities," he said.

In the last three decades, Hubert and Monica have lived with dozens of international students and immigrants.

"It is a blessing. It's adding a lot to the quality of our life," Hubert said, adding the couple did not want to be isolated after retirement.

"My wife and I have learned a lot," he saidas he continued to share fond memories of former students, including their various jobs, a student finding his partner in the neighbourhood and getting married,to the barbecues in his backyard.

'I felt at home,' international student recalls

Simon was eager to meetthe Campfens after days of exchanging emails about the rental.

"The first thing he did was hug me," said Simon referring to Hubert. "I felt at home."

They now cook, listen to music, bikeand share stories with each other.

"You want to continue being part of the communityand to be able to share whatever knowledge and wisdom I have with a younger generation," Hubert said.

As more and more students continue to sign up for a similar housing arrangement, Humber College says itis still looking for hosts. Crookshank says the program will create a "win-win" situation for students and hosts.

Finding affordable housing across the country is a challenge for many, he says. But newer international students often find theycannot rent places that require a credit scoreor a full time job.

"And then if you add into that the complexity of being new into an environment... it is a complex situation that we're grappling with," Crookshank said.

For his part, Hubert is encouraging more seniors with extra space in their homesto open their doors too.

"To have international students share time and space with you is really a great contribution and makes your life so much richer than sitting alone," he said.

Simon, meanwhile, says through his conversations with Hubert, he'slearning about the country he wants to call home.

"Because what you read on the Internet doesn't do justice to what you hear from someone who's experienced all these things," he said.

WATCH: Trying to wrap your head around Toronto's housing crisis? Chris Glover breaks down the problems and some potential solutions:

A teetering tower: Potential solutions to Toronto's big housing problem

1 year ago

Duration 5:58

Toronto's housing plan has holes, and whoever is elected mayor on June 26 will have to think of ways to fill them. CBC Toronto's Chris Glover looks at the scale of the problem, and the innovative solutions that have worked in other cities.