Mohawk, SpacesShared team up on affordable housing options for Hamilton students

Mohawk College is teaming up with SpacesShared, an innovative online home-sharing platform, to match students with older adult hosts for safe and affordable housing options.

SpacesShared uses an online platform and a team of people to match students who are looking for affordable and reliable rental options outside the normal housing market. The service will be available to Mohawk College students starting in May.

“This new partnership with SpacesShared offers Mohawk College students with another reliable housing choice as they pursue their education,” said Katie Burrows, Mohawk College Vice President, Students & International. “We are glad to work with SpacesShared and community members to support a positive college experience that bridges generations for our students and their hosts.”

SpacesShared provides affordable and safe home-sharing services in communities across the country: as standard practice, the company verifies the identity of each host, the home address, and confirms that the host lives in the home. The team conducts a criminal background check on each host before the homesharing agreement can be finalized.

Through this platform, older adults who have spare room can receive some extra income while giving back to the community. At the same time, home-sharing can help students develop additional life skills that will set them up for success now and in the future.

“Our mission is to ensure students find a safe, affordable place to live, while also making aging in place a comfortable reality for older adults,” explained SpacesShared CEO Ryan Kinnon. “Our seamless matching platform has already inspired many success stories, proving its value in alleviating social isolation and supporting both students and hosts.”

Kinnon encourages older adults to consider home-sharing as an option for extra income and to explore how it can fit into their lives. “We know that opening your home up to a stranger can be hard – but if we’ve done our job right, your guests won’t feel like strangers for long. We created SpacesShared so you can make a connection for life, and we will help with that.”

“If you’re interested in home-sharing, curious, or think it could be good for you, try it for a month. Try it for a semester. You might really enjoy it.”

SpacesShared launched last year to respond to the Canadian housing crisis with a solution that prioritizes connection, comfort, and community. The platform is entirely self-contained from application to agreement.

Mohawk College and SpacesShared invite people who are interested in becoming hosts or seeking more information to visit www.spacesshared.ca. For more information about off-campus housing resources and supports at Mohawk College visit the Off-Campus Housing page on Mohawk’s website.