Population and Housing

[Spokes]

The article failed to mention the university student population. That currently numbers about 50,000 between UW and WLU. Presumably that number is growing at least as fast as the population as a whole. That's almost all apartments and mostly near the universities.

Given that elementary school populations are not rising dramatically, it stands to reason that the domestic university student population would eventually stop rising as well.  The universities claim that they already have enough residence stock for their needs.

WLU blamed part of their enrollment decline on the decline of applications to their arts programs.  The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers is reporting rising underemployment among engineers in Ontario so Waterloo could end up with the same situation soon enough.

At what point will Waterloo be overbuilt?  Can higher density buildings designed for the student lifestyle (eg 5 bedrooms to a unit; residence style amenities etc) be repurposed fast enough to attract other demographics? 

Elementary schools are actually VERY full.  It's high schools that have seen a dip in enrollment at the moment.