How We Assign Rooms

Residence assignments are based on a number of factors, including the application date, your age, gender identification and the vacancy type.

Winter Session Residence

First year applicants could receive an offer to live at one of our traditional first year residences (Orchard Commons, Totem Park or Place Vanier) or a room in a suite-style residence such as Walter Gage or Ritsumeikan-UBC House.

Upper year applicants could receive an offer to live at Fairview Crescent, Ponderosa Commons (Cedar House) or Walter Gage.

1. Most offers go to First Year students who qualify for a guaranteed room in Winter Session Residence. A limited number of spaces are reserved for upper-year students.
2. After accepting an offer, we work behind-the-scenes to assign residence areas and rooms based on room type preferences and roommate group requests. We cannot make guarantees in this process.
3. Students who do not receive an offer will be placed on a waitlist and may receive an offer any time during the summer or upcoming academic year.

Year Round Residence

Applicants could receive an offer to live at Brock Commons, Exchange, Fraser Hall, Iona House, Marine Drive, Ponderosa Commons (Arbutus, Maple, Oak and Spruce Houses), tə šxʷhəleləm̓s tə k̓ʷaƛ̓kʷəʔaʔɬ or Thunderbird. Offers are sent based on:

1. Application date.
2. Earliest occupancy date. Students prepared to begin occupancy at the start of May are best positioned to receive an offer—contracts typically run from May to April.

Students with disabilities and Aboriginal students may be eligible for priority access to residence.

Student Family Residence

When a vacancy occurs at Acadia Park, an offer will be made to the next person on the waitlist whose eligibility matches the size of the available unit according to these guidelines.

Children*	One Bedroom	One Bedroom + Den	Two Bedroom	Three Bedroom	Four Bedroom
None	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
One	Yes**	Yes	Yes	No	No
Two	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Three	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
More than three	No	No	No	No	Yes

*”Children” refers to anyone who has not yet turned 19 years of age who resides full-time in the residential premises for at least ten months of any calendar year.
** For children up to the age of 12 months.

Summer

Eligible residents are placed in Fairview Crescent with roommates who, similarly, may be new to the unit or who are living there already. Students will receive a residence offer first, followed by room assignments in mid-April. We may need to relocate current residents for operational purposes (example: renovations).

Additional Information

Gender and trans experience

In addition to application date, age and vacancy type, we make room assignments based on the gender identity and trans experience a student identifies in their residence application.

Single-gender units

Many of our shared suite-style units are single gender—students are placed in a unit with other students who indicated the same gender identity.

For example, if you are assigned to a woman-identifying unit, you may be placed with roommates who identify as cisgender women, transgender women or non-binary (or a combination if you have multiple roommates).

All-gender units

We also have a small number of all-gender units. Students who indicate a preference for an all-gender unit may be assigned to this type of unit with students of any gender.

For example, if you are assigned to an all-gender unit, you may be placed with roommates who identify as non-binary or another gender diverse identity, transgender or cisgender.

While we do our best to accommodate all requests for an all-gender unit, especially for trans, non-binary and other gender diverse students, placement depends on availability, and we cannot guarantee placement for every student who selects an all-gender unit as a preference on their application.

Learn more about how we assign rooms for gender diverse students.

Questions?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the assignment process, please contact us.