Columbia Lake Village is a safe and quiet community that offers an affordable two-bedroom townhouse option for students with up to three family members.
Why make the Columbia Lake Village community your home?
- 4-month renewable contracts that align with academic terms
- Live in a safe, quiet, clean community
- Surrounded by 80 other student families
- Pet friendly
- Reliable and trustworthy 24/7 maintenance services (with a great landlord!)
- Onsite support from Campus Housing and Residence Life Dons who provide community support
- All-inclusive living (utilities, high-speed internet, in-unit laundry, events, activities, and workshops)
- Community Centre with pool table, ping pong, and games available for sign-out
- Townhouse community within walking distance to grocery stores, trails, and the main campus.
How to apply
Step 1: Join the waitlist
- Log into the Housing Hub and submit a Family Housing Application to join the waitlist.
- Family housing offers are made on a first-come, first-served basis and are based on available vacancies. Adding your name to the waitlist does not guarantee a residence offer. We cannot provide an estimate of when you will be offered housing based on your waitlist number.
- Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria of family housing; outlined below, and in our Family Terms and Conditions.
- Gather the necessary documentation (outlined in the Required Proof of Family Status section below). If/when you receive an offer from Campus Housing, it will be conditional based submitting these documents by the deadline provided.
- Keep your waitlist position active. Campus Housing will reach out to you once a term inviting you to keep your waitlist application active. NOTE: If you allow your waitlist application to expire (i.e., you do not act when you are invited to keep your application active), then you will be removed from the waitlist, and will need to reapply to be considered for a future space. You would move to the bottom of the waitlist.
Step 2: You're next on the waitlist
- When a space becomes available and you are next on the list, you will be asked to confirm your interest within one week.
- If you no longer require housing or are no longer eligible to live in Student Family Housing, then we ask that you decline the offer as soon as possible, so that it can be offered to the next interested student family.
Please note: we cannot offer alternative contract dates or defer your housing offer to a later time. We try to give a minimum of two months’ notice for a housing offer although occasionally will send an offer with less than two months’ depending on when units become vacant. Declining any offer will remove you from the family housing waitlist, although you can re-apply to be added to the bottom of the waitlist.
Step 3: Confirm your spot
- Once you have confirmed your interest, you will have one week to submit all required documents to secure your place.
- Once documents have been approved, you must agree to the Family Terms and Conditions and submit your non-refundable deposit (first month’s fees) by the deadline date.).
- You will receive final confirmation that your family housing unit has been reserved for you once you have completed all steps described above.
Please note: Family housing is extremely popular. Our waitlist receives a high number of new applicants each month; and with many student families choosing to stay for consecutive terms, there may only be a few vacancies available to new student families each term.
Eligibility
To live in Family Housing, the primary contract holder must be:
- A full-time student at the start of your contract each term
- Maintaining full-time status throughout your stay; if your student status changes or you are thinking about dropping a course, please contact your Residence Life Coordinator.
Postdoctoral Fellows and visiting scholars are not eligible to live with Campus Housing.
To live in Family Housing, each family must meet the Statistics Canada definition of “family” as follows:
- A married couple and the children, if any, of either and/or both spouses;
- A couple living common law and the children, if any, of either and/or both partners; or
- A parent of any marital status in a one-parent family with at least one child living in the same dwelling as that child or those children
- Any other combination of nuclear relatives that are financially dependent on the primary contract holder (student).
More information about our family eligibility criteria can be found in our Family Terms and Conditions.
Renewing your contract
Once you live in Family Housing on a 4-month renewable contract, you don’t need to re-apply. Each term you will receive an email inviting you to renew your stay in the same unit.
Renewal timeline
|
Term living in Housing |
Renewing placements for |
Renewal offers sent to current residents |
|---|---|---|
|
Fall |
Winter |
Early October |
|
Winter |
Spring |
Early February |
|
Spring |
Fall |
Early May |
Policies from your Terms and Conditions
Campus Housing, like student housing at many postsecondary institutions, is exempt from the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) and instead follows University policies and community standards to ensure transparency, equity, and adherence to rights and responsibilities across all our residence communities.
Move-in and move-out
Visit our graduate and family move-in/move-out website for instructions and timelines.
- Only the primary contract holder can pick up keys (with government ID).
- You are required to vacate the unit and return your assigned keys no later than 12 noon on the last day on your contract (April 29, August 29, or December 29).
- A move-out inspection will take place to assess standards of cleanliness.
- Cleaning/dumping/damage charges will be charged to the primary resident if there is damage to the unit beyond typical wear and tear or if furniture or other personal belongings remain.
A full list of residence policies can be found in the Terms & Conditions, agreed to as part of your contract acceptance.
Contract Cancellation or Non-Renewal
- If you are planning to move out at the end of a term, then you can decline or ignore the renewal offer and you must move out by 10 a.m. on the 29th of the last month of the contract term.
- Visit the move-in/out website for more information on when to move out and what steps to take.
- If you need to cancel partway through your termly contract, you will submit a cancellation form through the Housing Hub. Please visit our withdrawals and cancellations website for more information on financial obligations and financial relief for cancellations that occur during the contract period.
- A $500 administrative fee typically applies to cover some of the additional resources to place another resident in the unit. To avoid this fee, we recommend planning to move out at the end of your termly contract when you have not renewed for another term.
Frequently asked questions
I would like to explore housing off campus. What are my options?
Can another person (e.g., a family member) receive emails that Campus Housing sends to me?
CAN I TRANSFER MY CONTRACT TO ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER?
WHERE/HOW CAN I ENROLL MY CHILDREN IN SCHOOL?
Community Centre Booking Information
Columbia Lake Village Graduate Student & Family Community Community Centre Booking Information
Thank you for expressing interest in booking the Community Centre for your private function. Please take a moment to review the guidelines below.
Booking Guidelines:
- Students wishing to book the Community Centre for a private function must submit their written request to the CLV Residence Life Coordinator at clvgrad@uwaterloo.ca at least 5 business days prior to the requested booking date.
- The Community Center’s bookable space is restricted to the back seating area of the community center (i.e., the wood paneled area where the couches and TV are located).
- Due to fire regulation, gatherings must not exceed 40 guests. If you plan to add furniture to the space (e.g. additional tables or chairs), we recommend having fewer guests.
- Any supplies required must be supplied by the student who is requesting the booking (e.g. tape, scissors, third party rental furniture).
- Recreational equipment can be signed out by any resident during the event. As residence equipment is covered under residence fees, it is not available for sign out under non-residents. However, residents are responsible for rentals from the desk and supplies are subject to availability.
- Stacked room dividers can be provided by Campus Housing should you wish to have more privacy during your event. The CLV Residence Life Coordinator can demonstrate how to access and use these during a scheduled meeting at least 48 hours prior to the event. You can reach out to clvgrad@uwaterloo.ca for support.
- Furniture cannot be removed from the bookable space; however, it can be rearranged within the bookable space to meet the event’s needs.
- The CLV Community Centre is a communal space and as such students booking a private function must respect that other CLV residents will still be permitted to use all the other areas of the Community Centre including the Pool/Ping Pong/Foosball tables, the CLV Front Desk, the kitchenette and the walkway to the laundry room during the event. The event must not infringe on other residents’ use of the Community Centre Space.
Event Rules:
- Must be held during the CLV Community Centre hours for a maximum of 4.5 hours (additional 30 mins included is provided to clean and prepare the bookable space to its original condition after the event).
- The bookable space must be returned to its original configuration at the completion of the event. This includes disposing of all garbage, sweeping the floor, wiping tables and chairs, putting away the stacked room dividers and returning all furniture to its original location (please see image below for the proper configuration of furniture). Residents can access a broom from the CLV Front Desk.
- Please note, in the case of room damage of lack of cleaning, the student who booked the space will be financially responsible for any costs associated with repair/cleaning.
- The CLV Community Centre is not bookable for events during the exam period as this space is used for studying during exams. Other unavailable booking periods will be during St. Patrick’s Day weekend, Halloween or Campus Housing move-in and move-out periods.)
- Guest parking is available next to the CLV Community Centre for a flat daily rate. Please note that beginning January 20, 2025, Sustainable Transportation transitioned to using the AMP mobile pay app in all visitor lots and remove all pay-and-display machines. Please visit Sustainable Transportation website for more details.
- Priority will be given to Residence Life and Campus Housing events held at CLV Community Centre.
Additionally, as the CLV Community Centre is a part of residence, all parts of the residence Terms & Conditions and all relevant university policies will apply to functions taking place in this space – e.g., noise, guest policy, communicable disease safety measures, food policies, smoking limitations, alcohol restrictions, animal restrictions, etc. Please refer to your terms and conditions for more information.
