Ottawa students struggling to find affordable places to rent [Video]

During the final weeks of summer, the race is on for Ottawa post-secondary students to secure housing for the upcoming fall semester.

Many students will choose to live on campus for their first year of college and university, before moving off campus for the remainder of their schooling, but the current state of rental availability and affordability in the capital has made the hunt for housing difficult.

“Sites like Kijiji have been truly a pain to navigate,” said Carleton University student Omar Shaji. “Rent prices have been going up, and sometimes landlords will just cancel showing the place. It’s not been a pleasant journey.”

Rentals.ca shows one-bedroom apartments near Carleton University at $1,600 a month.

“There’s so many listings online and some of them aren’t great and some of them are overpriced,” said student Noah Blair. “Finding something that’s priced well and is a nice enough place — that becomes …