Our goal is to provide students with affordable, quality, and dignified housing.
In the Summer of 2020, the Woodnote will open its doors to 144 Undergraduate students, thus creating a thriving student community right across from the beautiful La Fontaine park.
The Woodnote is a cooperative by students, for students. That means that instead of a landlord making major decisions, a Board of students and support members do. Since the beginning of the development of the project, Undergraduate students and the CSU team have been actively involved in its evolution. We expect applications to open as early as February 2020, so keep your eyes open!
To learn more, or to apply to live at the Woodnote, visit the project’s website.
A Brief History
Historically, the CSU has been a staunch advocate for students’ housing rights through HOJO (The Off-Campus Housing and Job Resource Centre). Not a single university student union in Quebec provides such a service. Over time, we have become well aware that students face challenges in the housing market. For many of us it might be our first time living independently, in Montreal, or in Canada altogether.
So, in September 2014, CSU Council approved the production of a report by UTILE titled “Student Housing Co-ops: Preliminary Feasibility Study.” The study explored the possibility for the CSU to create affordable cooperative housing for students. Broad in scope, the comprehensive report outlines the existing context of student housing in Montreal, and presents several development and financial scenarios alongside complementary governance models. In November, the study was submitted to students and a presentation was made to outline the report’s findings. To ensure the desire from students for the CSU to continue prioritizing such a groundbreaking project, a referendum question was put to ballot in the November by-election. Asking students whether they approve of supporting cooperative student housing as a student space initiative, the question received the highest amount of approval of any by-election referendum, with 89% of voters in favour.
Thus, the PUSH fund was created. The Woodnote was this fund’s first investment, but it is sure to not be the last.
