Skip to content

Students get 'innovative' housing at Northwest Community College in Terrace, B.C.

New "work camp-style" brings nearly 50 rooms to campus for this fall to help ease demand for living spaces.

Demand for student housing is high at Northwest Community College (NWCC) and an innovative housing solution opens the door to 49 more students to secure housing on the Terrace campus.

For the first time on a B.C. public post-secondary campus, work camp-style housing will be used,

"This new facility will not only serve to begin meeting the demand for student housing, it will also play an important role linking students registered in trades to a living scenario that closely emulates the style of remote work camps serving large scale projects," said NWCC president Ken Burt.

While the housing is available to any student, preference will be given to trades students so they can experience first-hand what its like to live in a camp setting while they complete their education.

The facilities include 49 single-occupancy rooms each with a bed, desk, refrigerator, closet space and drawers, a flat screen television, Wi-Fi access and individual climate control in the bedrooms including air conditioning for the hot summer months.

In the winter months, residents will benefit from access through a heated, covered, all-weather walkway.

Work is already underway at the Terrace campus of Northwest Community College as the new accommodations are being prepared for a Sept. 8, 2015, move-in date for residents.

"This experiential learning environment will help ensure that our students in trades programs are 'camp ready' and positioned to better succeed should they find employment in a remote setting," said Kerry Clarke, NWCC director of Facilities and Ancillary Services.

The $400,000 housing facility has been made possible largely from a $375,000 contribution from the Ministry of Advanced Education, with the remaining funds coming from Northwest Community College.