Durham College is still investigating the possibility of student housing at the Whitby campus.
Dean of Whitby campus, Darrin Caron set up a booth earlier this month to talk to students about whether or not they think they need a residence.
“This is all very preliminary right now,” says Caron.
Most students walked by the booth with little to no interest and Caron resorted to walking around the main common area of the campus to get student feedback. He was asking simple questions to find out if students currently lived in the Oshawa residence, where they live now, and if they would use a residence in Whitby.
The college also sent out an online survey to all Whitby campus students using their Durham College email.
According to Caron about 71 percent of the students on campus live in Durham region. Each year there is roughly 1,300 apprentice students who only attend the campus for six to eight weeks at a time.
In the meantime, Trent University’s Oshawa campus is also gathering information from their students because they have the opportunity to share student housing if it was built in Whitby.
The next step is to analyze the data collected. If there is enough positive feedback the school will then turn over the investigation to an external company.
One possibility is the land west of the college is being turned into a large commercial expansion. The owner of the land, River Oaks group has prepared for the possibility of a residence to be built on their land.
