Over 4,800 residents from Winter Session, Year Round and Student Family housing completed at least one of the two surveys.
Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on their residence experience. Your feedback is invaluable and helps shape the future of Student Housing at UBC—providing us with important insights that help us understand what we’re doing well and what areas we need to prioritize to enhance the residence experience and best serve students living in Student Housing.
On this page:
Survey highlights
According to survey feedback, Student Housing excels in and will continue to prioritize these aspects of residence life.
Creating a sense of connection and belonging in residence
Nine out of ten respondents (88 per cent) shared they feel connected to UBC as a result of living in residence and 94 per cent felt comforted knowing they get to return “home” to their residence at the end of the day.
Providing a greater awareness of diversity
Three out of four respondents (76 per cent)Â shared that living in residence helped them become more aware of identities different from their own.
Educating residents on sustainable food choices in residence
Two out of three respondents (64 per cent) with an All Access Dining or Swipe meal plan shared that dining in residence encouraged them to eat less red meat, try more plant-based foods or learn about the sustainability value of plant-based options. This aligns with UBC’s goals to promote healthy, sustainable living in residence and UBC’s Climate Action Plan 2030.
We will continue to monitor the success of these initiatives and continue prioritizing these aspects of the residence experience in 2026 and beyond.
Priority opportunities for improvement
While we continue to make improvements to all aspects of the residence experience, based on the insights gathered from the two 2024/25 SHES surveys, we have identified the following areas as priorities for the upcoming year.
Improving the Student Housing website
Finding: On average, one out of two residents (43 to 66 per cent) surveyed found that the Student Housing website was easy to navigate and were able to find the information they were looking for.
What we’re doing: Already identified as a priority, in 2025 we redesigned the home page to help visitors more easily navigate the site and access relevant information. Plus, we’re currently developing a new website with improved information architecture, navigation and features, which is planned for launch in late 2026. The website’s navigation and layout were developed using insights from usage analytics, survey data (from over 1,000 current and former residents) and numerous focus groups with students and staff.
Reducing the amount of waste that’s incorrectly sorted
Finding: Three out of four residents (74 per cent) reported that they always sort their waste properly in residence. Despite those efforts, residence sorting stations still exhibit significant waste contamination rates (i.e., waste materials placed in the incorrect bins.)
What we’re doing: In addition to our ongoing efforts to educate residents on how to correctly sort their waste, in summer 2025 we collaborated with UBC Sustainability to introduce a waste sorting pilot program at Marine Drive residence and study a set of waste sorting interventions to see which best reduced contamination rates and prevented the most waste from ending up in the landfill. The results from this pilot were used to develop a food scraps pickup program at Marine Drive, which launched in September 2025 and, based on results, may be expanded to other suite-style residence areas.
We will continue to collaborate with UBC Sustainability to explore, study and implement novel systems to help reach UBC’s zero waste goals and contribute to UBC’s Climate Action Plan 2030.
Increase the sense of community in residence and provide the tools and support needed to build productive roommate experiences
Finding: Students who reported feeling a poorer sense of community in residence said their experience living with their roommate at that time was the main cause.
What we’re doing: With the launch of a new Student Housing Management System in late 2026, we’ll be able to provide better roommate matches by asking additional application questions related to lifestyle, habits, and preferences and stronger tools for students to connect with potential roommates.
In addition to the current level of support that Residence Advisors provide to help residents successfully navigate living with roommates, the following strategies are being implemented:
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- Enhanced Residence Advisor (RA) training: In August 2025, we updated RA training to emphasize the importance of facilitating communication between roommates and addressing roommate conflict, providing them with the tools to coach residents on addressing conflict, having difficult conversations and establishing boundaries with assertiveness. This additional training will continue in August 2026 and beyond.
- Updated guidance for RAs about when to seek support from their Residence Life Manager: Starting in 2025, RAs received updated guidance about when to seek support from their Residence Life Manager, to help provide mediation for and resolve roommate-related sooner.
- Providing additional content, resource handouts and a roommate survey to educate residents on positive roommate dynamics: These materials were provided to first-year residents in August 2025 in a roommate social event that took place during Weekend of Welcome. These resources will be offered again in August 2026.
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Provide enhanced resources for gender diverse residents throughout the housing application and assignment process
Finding: Respondents who identify as transgender or gender diverse have reported having a less positive experience in residence, including in navigating their housing application and assignment.
What we’re doing: While we continuously seek opportunities to elevate the residence experience for transgender / gender diverse students, from a clear application and room assignment process to a welcoming and inclusive experience living in residence, in 2025 we launched the Gender Diverse Students guide and updated our content related to gender and room assignments for all prospective residents.
In 2026, we look forward to providing even more education, as part of our new to residence orientation campaign for incoming first-year residents, on gender diversity at UBC to help ensure an inclusive and welcoming residence and campus environment.
Educating residents on career development opportunities
Finding: Two out of five residents (45 per cent) surveyed said they were not aware of opportunities in residence to build their interview skills or learn professional (i.e., workplace) etiquette.
What we’re doing: In 2026, we are partnering with the UBC Career Centre to bring new career development workshops to residence, which will provide unique residence programming and help connect residents with the services provided directly by the Career Centre.
Learn more
Learn more about the Student Housing Experience Survey and check the email associated with your Workday Student account at the end of January 2026 for your personalized term two survey link.