The University of Toronto has recently finished construction of the Oak House student residence right near Innis College, located at the corner of Spadina and Sussex Avenue. The residence is a tall, narrow tower with red brick walls and a historical facade incorporated into the lower floors. Unfortunately, as it seems to go with all the construction we try to get done in this city, Oak House encountered some troubles along the way.

Preparation of the site began after the design was finalized in 2021, with excavation of the tower’s foundation completed in spring of 2022 and tower construction well underway by spring of 2023. The project was initially planned to be completed for the 2024 fall term, but this was delayed by one year due to construction progress. The target date of September 2025 was set. 

I happen to live right next to the site and saw the construction proceed over summer of this year. While most of the structure came to be finished in good time, the metal fences around the construction site stayed conspicuously late into the month of August, and the interior appeared empty on the lower floors. While this was going on, incoming students were assigned dorms and prepared for a move-in on August 23, 2025. Unfortunately, it went the way of the Eglinton. The day before the planned move-in, students were informed that the residence had failed a last minute inspection, and that the move-in was to be pushed back an indeterminate amount of time. Students were soon told that the move-in would be delayed two weeks, until the weekend after the first week of classes. During this time, students were offered a partial compensation if they were able to postpone their move-in, or temporary lodging at CampusOne or Parkside residences. Fortunately, there were no more delays, and students were able to move in for early September. For more details on this, I would recommend an article from the September 9 2025 issue of The Varsity, “Students move into new Oak House residence after two-week delay,” which contains a statement from the university and from some of the students during move-in.

My main goal in writing this article was to inform more people that this had all gone on after I had learned that most folks didn’t know about the new residence right near our college. Now that we’re all on the same page, I will take the opportunity to editorialize.

I want to make sure it’s understood that my opinion on this is not all doom and gloom. There is always a growing need for student housing, and though a single apartment building won’t solve the issue, it will certainly help curb the tendency towards unsafe housing conditions for the international student population. It may be argued that the true cause for such unsafe housing is cost rather than availability, and that the above-market rent for student housing makes it an ineffective tool to solve this issue. I have not done enough research to speak with authority on this topic. Regardless of how much good it will do, building an apartment building downtown is (as we have seen through the numerous delays) a difficult project for the university to take on, and it should not be without commendation that UofT has opened itself to liability by trying to offer more housing for its students.

Despite this, the university’s handling of the situation leaves much to be desired. I find it puzzling that in their communications about the delay, the university did not once admit any sort of wrongdoing or issue any sort of apology for the great inconvenience they were placing on their students. It is not very Canadian of them! A statement from the Executive Director of Student Housing and Residence Experience issued to The Varsity and printed in their Sept. 9 article reads, “We regret the disappointment, frustration, and added stress caused by the delay … We made every effort to have everything ready.” I don’t mean to call foul on the good executive director, but I have a very hard time believing that informing your students of a delay the day before move-in is their “every effort”. Throwing such difficulty into the lives of your students the day before they move to your university does not communicate that you care about the stress which you place them under. While the university did its diligence in offering alternative housing to the displaced students, a cynical viewer might note that it did the bare minimum necessary to clear itself of legal liability and avoid causing temporary homelessness among many students. I am not aware that any further assistance was offered in helping these students with a second move-in after the first week of classes, and as of writing this article on October 2, there are still windows taped up all along the lower levels, with interior construction left to be completed. Whatever the truth may be, it is hard to deny that the terrible communication and unfinished living space reeks of a lack of care for the well-being of the students, or of incompetence in the management of the project.

It is no secret that UofT has a reputation for not caring about student mental health. Whatever the case, the university is definitely protective of its image, and has spent much effort into curating a reputation as an elite, top quality research institution. As a student, it is clear that a care for the student body is not part of this desired reputation. I am not so pessimistic about the state of student mental health, and I do not want to discount the many UofT staff who work hard to make our lives better. However, if the university ever wishes to turn their reputation around and appear to care about the well-being of their students, fiascos like that of the Oak House delay must be handled differently and with compassion.