University of Victoria: Employee Housing Assessment

In 2022, the University of Victoria retained CitySpaces Consulting to facilitate an engagement process with all university employees to better understand their diverse housing needs, challenges, and desires. In consultation with an interdepartmental steering committee, CitySpaces designed and implemented a complex and comprehensive survey. The process established data of sufficient quality and depth to undertake detailed analysis as though census data was available for this unique employee population.

An overview of employee demographics, household incomes, and housing preferences was developed. The survey included multiple branching paths to accommodate the diversity of household types, tenures, life stages, and housing desires of the employee population. The results could be freely cross tabulated by any other variable, allowing for detailed analysis and specific client inquiries to be tested. The survey was primarily available online, with a paper version available in-person on campus to increase accessibility for potential respondents. To ensure high response rates, CitySpaces worked with the university communications department to implement an outreach program utilizing digital signage, campus-wide email notifications, and department leads communicating to their teams.

CitySpaces led all aspects of the project from facilitating the steering committee, undertaking a privacy impact assessment process, designing, testing and implementing the survey, and drafting a comprehensive final report.

CLIENT: University of Victoria