Students were told to be prepared to pay thousands to rent in St. John's. And they are

Tuition fees are not the only expense students were asked to have on hand this fall. 

Documents obtained by CBC News through access to information legislation show that Memorial University — aware of a worsening housing crunch in St. John's — told some incoming students to have thousands of dollars ready for interim accommodations like hotels and Airbnb.

In several memos sent to students dating back to September 2023, MUN also told international students that it can take up to two months to find off-campus housing, at a potential cost of more than $2,000 per month. 

Before arriving in Canada, single students were advised to book at least one month of temporary accommodations, and student families were advised to book at least two months. 

The university's Internationalization Office recommended hotels and hostels ranging from $100-$200 a night, Airbnbs from $50-$150 a night, and Vrbos from $90- $350 per night.

MUN said it is standard practice for the Internationalization Office to encourage students to pre-arrange housing before arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador — but there became a greater emphasis in 2023.

"With the increasing difficulty in securing housing, in 2023 we began encouraging students to have one to two months of temporary accommodations prepared before arriving to the province to ensure they have somewhere to stay while they secure a more permanent residence," Chad Pelley, MUN's communications manager, said in a statement.

Faiaz Halim, a graduate student from Bangladesh, moved to St. John's with his wife and two young daughters to study software engineering in August 2023.

He knew finding housing would be difficult because of the school's warnings. With hopes of avoiding a long-winded search, Halim started looking for housing in St. John's long before his family left Bangladesh.

"All I was getting was scammers like 'deposit this first, then we'll talk,'" Halim said. "I also looked into Airbnb, and all the Airbnbs are full, and hotels were also full at that time last year."

They stayed at the Sandman Signature Hotel on Kenmount Road for a week and a half before finding permanent accommodation.

The stay was shorter than MUN estimated for its students, but the cost was much higher.

"We spent more than $2,000 just for 10 days," Halim said, describing how he spent every waking second working his phone to secure a long-term rental.

"I called every property management company and apartments in St. John's," he said.