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Concordia delays move-in date for Le Mildoré Residence

Le Mildoré Residence’s exterior. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ The Concordian

After weeks of delays, residents of Concordia’s latest student residence are stuck waiting to move into their dorms

Residents of Concordia’s newest student housing, Le Mildoré, have been waiting to move into their new dorms for weeks since their original move-in date. 

Numerous construction delays resulted in Concordia Residence Life postponing Le Mildoré’s move-in date from the end of August to late October. 

The newest Concordia residence was supposed to provide the University with 22 four-bedroom units for use for the start of the 2022 fall semester. However, in an email sent on Aug. 26, Concordia Residence Life announced that all move-in dates to Le Mildoré were postponed and that residents would be provided units in the Grey Nuns Residence for the time being. 

Emma Clark, a first-year psychology student and resident of Le Mildoré, recalls that she was not surprised when her move-in date had been postponed. Clark doubted Le Mildoré would be completed in time for the fall semester after seeing the state of the building during the summer. 

“I remember visiting Concordia in June and I passed by Le Mildoré and it just was not ready at all,” Clark said. “I consistently emailed them [Concordia Residence services], like, hey, is everything going to be ready?”

Despite assurances from Concordia that construction would be done by the end of August, Clark says she got a call from Residence Life the night before her scheduled move-in date, informing her that she would be relocated to the Grey Nuns residence for the time being.

Clark says the last update she received from the University was in early September and that Le Mildoré would be open to students by late October. 

“It’s a little upsetting,” she said about the lack of information the University has provided her. “I just want to move in as soon as possible.”

To compensate affected residents, Concordia has offered Le Mildoré residents free meal plans and a daily credit refund equivalent to their rents. 

Unlike the Grey Nuns or Loyola residences, Concordia does not own Le Mildoré building. Instead, the University has leased out 22 units from the building’s management company, University Apartments Montreal. Despite appearing on numerous University advertisements, many Le Mildoré residents such as first-year linguistics student Ethan Knapp said they were unaware the residence was not owned by the University.

“The application process was the same as the other residences,” said Knapp. “So I thought it was owned by Concordia.”

On Sept. 27, The McGill Tribune published an article detailing accusations from current Le Mildoré residents that University Apartments Canada is responsible for providing inhospitable living conditions. 

The Concordian received a similar email. However, after investigating the claims, it found insufficient evidence to support the allegations. 

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Student Life Uncategorized

Concordia needs to pay attention to graduate students with families

Graduate students with families struggle with finding suitable, affordable housing in Montreal

The lack of affordable housing near Concordia University’s two campuses disproportionally affects graduate students who have families. Rents increase exponentially each year, particularly as developers renovate and convert apartment complexes into high-end luxury condos and apartments.

An article in CBC News shows that, despite the increase in availability of rental apartments in the central part of Montreal in 2020, the average rent went up to $891, 4.2 per cent higher than in 2019. Graduate student families are affected because they cannot share residences, which help other students cut down on rent and other costs. The rising cost of rent in and near downtown has made it very difficult for student families to live there. They end up having to move farther away, thus adding commute time and other considerations.

In addition, most graduate student families, particularly those that are international students, are single-income households or living on financial aid and scholarships. Most international students’ spouses accompany them on a visitor permit or have to wait for work authorizations. Finding jobs is also a difficult task due to the language barrier and lack of access to employment networks and support that are provided to citizens and permanent residents.

Concordia needs to seriously consider providing options for students with families, particularly graduate students, as they are often here for the long-term. While undergraduate housing is available through Grey Nuns and other on-campus residences, there are no such options for graduate students.

Graduate family housing at universities such as the University of Toronto has been very advantageous. These provide opportunities for socialization; particularly important when arriving from a foreign country, for both students and their families. It helps build a social network wherein these families, who understand each other’s challenges, can share helpful advice to navigate everything from university life to healthcare and education for children.

Many newly-arrived graduate student families also lack the required credit checks to get many apartments and thus find themselves in apartments that may not be suitable. International students with families also often end up spending a large amount of money to rent short-term or live in Airbnbs before finding a suitable apartment, as it’s nearly impossible to rent an apartment before being physically present in the city.

Michelle LaSalle, a Concordia Fine Arts Masters student, struggled finding an apartment with a young child, when her son was just three months old. Most families, like LaSalle’s, have a hard time finding landlords who are willing to rent apartments to families with small children, due to noise and other issues, which is also not legally allowed under Quebec’s housing laws. The process of finding an apartment with children is extremely stressful, a point to which this author can also attest to. The process is not only competitive but also involves so much emotional labor with having to convince potential landlords to rent to a family.

I, myself, was declined from even viewing several potential apartments when I mentioned I had children.

Family housing also helps spouses and children who may be isolated to connect with similar families, and can also help facilitate child-care when needed. As both the Concordia subsidized daycares and the Concordia Student Union daycare are located within the university campuses, it helps parents to be located near the daycares. In addition, schools and daycares have very fixed pick-up schedules and require parents to be able to drop anything they are doing to pick up their child in case of an emergency, which necessitates a short commute.

Lindsay Pereira, a senior undergraduate student at Concordia, set to start her Masters in English this fall, has three children and lives in a rented 5 1/2 in LaSalle. She spoke about how the increasing rents are difficult to manage on a single income, especially after she made the decision to return to school after twenty years to complete her undergraduate studies and pursue a Masters.

Pereira says that even though she lives close to downtown, commuting on public transit used to take up so much of her time. With the pandemic and shift to online learning, it has also been more difficult to find a quiet space to study and take classes from home. She would welcome subsidized housing options, particularly near the Loyola campus, with its green, open spaces that are ideal for a family and  the shuttle service that provides an easy and fast commute to the downtown campus.

Pereira ended by saying, “I am grateful that I have a suitable place, but the truth is my reality as a student with children is very different from those who do not, and it is high-time Concordia starts thinking about students with families and their needs, particularly with the financial and other effects of the pandemic.”

 

Feature photo by Kit Mergaert

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News

Breaking: Concordia students in residence asked to leave by end of this weekend

Earlier today, students across campus received a notice that left some reeling: all students living in any of Concordia’s three residences will need to leave their dorms in four days due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the statement, this move was made for the safety of students living in residence, as social distancing is proving difficult to practice. This decision affects all students living at the Grey Nuns Residence downtown and the Hingston Residence and the Jesuit Residence’s at Loyola. Over 800 students are currently living in Concordia’s residences.

According to the statement, “exceptional circumstances” may prevent some students from leaving by the March 22 deadline. In this case, students are advised to send an email to residenceinfo@concordia.ca. Concordia has sent The Concordian a statement regarding the residents being asked to leave.

“We are seeking to protect the health of our community both as a whole and as individuals. We are currently working to identify those to whom exceptional circumstances apply, including students unable to return to their home. Accommodations will be provided to all those who need it. This is not a decision we took lightly and we understand the stress it is causing. Social distancing measures that everyone right now is aiming for are hard to maintain in residences and this decision was taken with the well-being of students in mind.​”

Aurélie Garrone, a first year international student from France who currently lives in residence is one of hundreds directly affected by the situation. The psychology major student arrived in Montreal in January to begin her degree.

“If Canadian borders close, and assuming that I get repatriated, I’m not sure when I can come back to Concordia,” said Garrone.

Garrone said she has nowhere else to go. According to her, the university sent the students in residence emails about new rules but never mentioned the possibility of being kicked out.

“I feel anxious because I don’t know what to do or where to go, and if I have to travel to France I’ll be at higher risk of contracting the virus and passing it on to my family when I arrive,” said Garrone.

According to Armand Kabanga Ciowela, a first year aerospace engineering student from Senegal, the university assured students living in the residence that they would be able to stay in their dorms until the end of the semester. He said while he understands that evacuating from the dorms is important, because self-isolation is difficult as all of the students eat at the same cafeteria and use the same bathrooms, giving them only four days is not enough.

“We have to pack up while looking for a place to go to,” said Kabanga Ciowela.

Patrick Quinn, Academic and Advocacy coordinator at the CSU, said the decision is “rushed, irresponsible and outright cruel.”

“I’m not even 100 per cent sure if this is even legal or not, it really depends on what the leases of the students say, but from my understanding this might not be covered in their lease and students might have the right to stay,” said Quinn.

Quinn continued that rather than protecting students and minimizing risk of infection, this decision makes students more vulnerable and more at risk.

“We’re listening, we’re here for you, we’re fighting for you,”said Quinn.

According to Concordia’s statement, students will be eligible for a refund, both for their rent and meal plan as of the date they leave.

For more info, https://www.concordia.ca/covid19info/students/residence.html?fbclid=IwAR3KqIthU5rYoYoCF-3tHUfPZhCUMG3Bo-qyV9CuofbQwPqRlLTTHcyAok8

 

As this situation is developing, this article will be updated. 

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News

Lock down at Grey Nuns

Several police cars were reported to be seen at Grey Nuns. Photo by Elisa Barbler.

Some Grey Nuns residents reported police at residence on Thursday night

Concordia’s residence Grey Nuns, located on Sir George Williams downtown campus, went on lockdown as several cop cars crowded the residence.

Concordia journalism student and staff writer for The Concordian Elisa Barbier told The Concordian that officers were spotted in the halls of Grey Nuns with assault rifles and riot shields looking for an aggressive suspect.

Barbier said she asked several students around Grey Nuns about the lockdown. They reported they saw officers with dogs, officers posted on each floor and locked exits. Students were not allowed in and students were told to lock their doors for safety.

Barbier said while she was questioning students at Grey Nuns, three girls allegedly stated they were in the study room on the main floor when suddenly, an RA told them to get into the room connected to the study room. Barbier said they turned all lights off and they were told to stay low. “They stayed in there between 30 minutes to an hour,” said Barbier. “This was also confirmed by guys that actually saw the room with all the lights off.”

Concordia Grey Nuns resident Jenny Chand said she saw police with dogs walking in the garden of Grey Nuns, walking around the building. She said they were looking around for something but they left because they couldn’t find anything.

“And as I was entering the building, when they let me in, there’s about 30 cops, fully armed, they had shields,” she said. “I saw witness papers being taken inside.”

Chand said earlier that day a boy from the Grey Nuns residence was taken away in an ambulance at approximately 6 p.m. She said cops were there the rest of the day, but there was not a large quantity until approximately between 8 and 9 p.m.

Seifeldin Roushdy, political science major and Concordia Grey Nuns resident, said he was in the common room heating his food in the microwave when he saw approximately six or seven cops walk by. “One was holding a big rifle and another one was holding a shield bashing on the door of this kids [room] yelling ‘police police,’” said Roushdy. He said, however, no one was inside.

“They walked by, they saw my door was half open, they asked me if anyone came inside my room,” said Roushdy. “I said no and they went inside and searched it.” He said he asked them what was happening and the cops reportedly told them they were looking for someone. “When I asked them why and they told me it wasn’t my business,” said Roushdy.

Charlotte Maher, a Concordia Grey Nuns resident, said she saw approximately 30 police officers on the east side of third floor. She said they did not have any weapons, but they were all wearing protective vests. “They were checking bathrooms and public areas—commons room, laundry rooms,” said Maher.

She said she and some other residents were told the police were looking for someone and he was dangerous. “We were told to stay in our rooms,” said Maher.

Students living in the Grey Nuns residence were seen standing outside while the building was on lockdown. Photo by Elisa Barbier

University spokesperson Chris Mota said the incident involved a student resident. “For reasons of confidentiality we can’t discuss the specifics of the incident,” said Mota. “However, I can confirm that the incident required police intervention.”

She said the incident has since been resolved. “At no time were the residents in any danger,” said Mota.

With files from Elisa Barbier

This article has been updated with more information since publication.

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