Area residents have opened their homes and hearts to help international students from Canadore College find accommodation after being left homeless during a housing crisis.
Students have told BayToday that their situation is "dire."
Since the BayToday story (Homeless international students protesting at Canadore College) at least a dozen locals have offered everything om a house to individual rooms and apartments.
"My husband and I live in Callander. I saw the article with regard to the international student housing issues at Canadore. We have a room available in our home for rent," wrote one reader.
Another wrote, "I have a vacant three-bedroom home I would be willing to rent to students. It is available as of this weekend. My rental house has been vacant all summer while I slowly did some renovations. I was debating whether to sell it or rent it back out. When I saw the article, I decided I could rent it out to students."
Some students have been living in tents or cars, while others are paying big dollars for hotel rooms. It hasn't been a good look for Canadore or the City of North Bay. BayToday reached out to Canadore President George Burton to discuss the students' plight but got no response.
See: Canadore throws stranded students off its property. Left without shelter
The offers are coming in from around the city.
"I live in a rental property on Premier Rd. It is small but I have a second bedroom that is unused. I am waiting for a senior's apartment, but that will be a long wait. I could use some extra income to help with rent, hydro and gas."
A spokesman for the students, Khushpreet Singh, says all the help is appreciated. "It's good," he said thankfully. He's taking information and checking out the rooms.
"If it's suitable for students, I'll refer some."
One reader offered help, but also wondered if the system is partly to blame.
"I saw your article on Bay Today. I have completed the housing form for Canadore as I have a room available in my home. Very clean and quiet. I am a professional and thought I could help. I have not heard anything back as of now and thought maybe you could pass this along! Also, the application for housing at Canadore is a bit tricky to do if you are not on a computer! Not even sure the application went through! You don’t get any kind of confirmation that I am aware of!"
And this one, "Jeff, I'm writing to you because I have reached out to Canadore and have not received a response as of yet. I have a separate winterized cottage on my property that has a bedroom on the main floor as well as a loft with which is another bedroom."
Another reader, recognizing the hardships being endured by these foreign students offered, "We have a bedroom in the basement with an ok bathroom (kinda small but doable). It's nothing great but it's better than a tent."
