St. Clair College is addressing a shortage of student housing by building a new student residence.
The new building will provide 512 international students with housing within walking distance to other buildings on campus and a bus route to the campus in downtown Windsor.
"St. Clair College has been a leading proponent of public college-private partnerships in Ontario for some time," said David Piccini, the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities.
The building will use Z-Modular units pre-built in a factory and shipped to the site. It should be complete within 45 days.
The Z-Modular Corporation is a subsidiary of Zekelman Industries owned by Windsor businessman Barry Zekelman.
"This welcome wave of newcomers desperately needs a new home away from home," said College President Patti France.
Enrolment of international students has skyrocketed in recent years, according to Nancy Jammu-Taylor, the chair of the College's Board of Governors. She said the availability of affordable housing has become "a crisis."
In September, the College said it had enrolled about 13,200 students, including 4,188 from other countries.
"The board was confronted with a new issue: not dealing with the quality of education, but rather, with our students' quality of life," said Jammu-Taylor.
