U of A ending rental agreements with on-campus fraternities, sororities
The University of Alberta is ending its rental agreements with fraternities and sororities, including some organizations that have been on campus for decades.
Alpha Gamma Delta, a fraternity at the University of Alberta, has rented their house for 29 years, using the space as a home for five members and as a community hub.
But in late April, Alpha Gamma Delta and six other Greek life organizations were told that the university would be terminating their rental agreements with no chance of renewal.
In a statement given to CBC News, the U of A said that "maintaining these older homes to a standard that meets the modern needs of today's students is not sustainable, given increasing costs and inflationary pressures."
The university said 27 students would be affected by the decision. For most organizations, their final lease will end on August 31, 2026, the U of A said.
Quinn Tilling, president of Alpha Gamma Delta, told Edmonton AM that the school's reasoning was "frustrating."
"I lived in our house for the last semester of this previous year and I could count on one hand the number of times we had to request maintenance support from the university. I'm interested to see where the drain is coming from."
Tilling said that finding alternative housing has been difficult because the fraternity needs a physical space for members to meet.
"We need a place where our members can go and feel as though they have a home away from home," Tilling said. "So, if we can't secure a property, it will negatively impact our organization and dozens of women and non-binary folks."
As an alternative to the houses the fraternities and sororities are currently renting, the university has suggested group accommodations within the university's residence system. However, Tilling said these options are not currently viable.
"All of our different organizations have separate houses, and so to lump us all into a residence hall feels sort of dismissive," she said.
"I think it would be a challenge for us to distinguish our organizations from one another and to maintain a unique group identity that make our community so special."
Future of houses unclear
Logan West, the vice-president student life at the University of Alberta Students' Union, said that the affected organizations were not consulted prior to the announcement of the decision.
West said that responses from the groups have been varied. While some are in a better position because of their alumni networks, others have decided to shut down their chapters entirely or terminate their leases early.
Both Tilling and West said that it's unclear what will happen to the houses once the fraternities and sororities move out.
The university said in its statement that "no decisions have yet been made about the future of the houses."
Some fraternities and sororities are being forced to pack their bags at the U of A
4 days ago
Duration 1:41
West said that the removal of these spaces will have a negative impact on the larger university community because of the role Greek organizations play on campus.
"Greek life provides students with a really unique experience as it allocates an exclusive third space to them in a time where these spaces continue to diminish for young people."
West said the organizations have been a part of campus life for years.
"I think a lot of these houses have a history. If you've ever been in some of these houses, you can see all the alumni faces on the walls," West said.
"It is definitely unfortunate, I would say. The groups have expressed that history is and that emotional attachment to those spaces is one of the hardest parts of dealing with this situation."
Thaddeus Ma is the president of the interfraternal council and a general member of Pi Kappa Alpha. He told CBC News that the news blindsided his fraternity.
"It was quite shocking, being that it was just an email dropped in our lap," Ma said. "There was no signs or anything like that to prepare us for this."
Ma said that the news has brought the Greek organizations on campus closer together, even those not directly impacted.
"Right now, it's a very stressful time for everyone because this affects operations, not just for seven of us, but the community as a whole," Ma said. "We all play our own part in the community and we do support each other.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
40 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Poilievre says everyone will need to compromise to advance major infrastructure projects
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says everyone will need to compromise in order to build major infrastructure projects, just days before Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with First Nations leadership over his government's controversial Bill C-5. The One Canadian Economy Act – part of which allows the federal cabinet to put proposed projects on a national-interest list, exempting them from various legal requirements in order to speed up approvals – was supported by the Conservatives and received royal assent last month. But many Indigenous leaders have said that, while they are not opposed to development, they are concerned the legislation could trample on their treaty rights. 'Whenever you do a big project where you got workers, investors, governments, local communities and First Nations, everyone's going to have to make some compromises in order to get things done,' Mr. Poilievre told reporters on Monday. The Conservative Leader – who is running in next month's Battle River-Crowfoot by-election, a large rural riding in southeast Alberta – said all of those different groups could see positive outcomes, such as jobs and revenue. 'It's a win-win-win, but everybody needs to focus on just getting it done.' Ottawa sped through law to fast-track major projects, but implementation is going slower Mr. Carney's government has maintained that Indigenous groups affected by the proposed projects will be fully consulted at the key stages of the process. The Prime Minister will host First Nations chiefs on Thursday to discuss the implementation of Bill C-5. While the Conservatives voted for the legislation, Mr. Poilievre said it is 'far from a solution.' He reiterated his call for the Liberals to repeal Bill C-69, which deals with environmental assessments, and Bill C-48, which restricts oil tankers from British Columbia's northern coast, along with other policies. Mr. Poilievre said the best way forward on the legislation is to win buy-in by ensuring Indigenous people benefit from the projects. That includes allowing businesses to divert a share of their federal corporate taxes to the local First Nation whose lands the projects go ahead on, he said – reiterating a Conservative election campaign promise. 'This would be own-source revenue for First Nations to build schools, hospitals, clean drinking water systems, job training – you name it,' he said. 'They wouldn't have to go back to Ottawa to ask for money from federal bureaucrats. It would come directly to them.' He said he also thinks Mr. Carney should set up 'shovel-ready zones' in consultation with First Nations that would have pre-permits for projects. 'I think our First Nations people can be the richest in the entire world. That should be our goal, and only with good policy and hard work can that happen.' At Monday's news conference, Mr. Poilievre also spoke out against Alberta separation. 'I disagree with separation. I'm a Canadian patriot,' he said. 'I still think that there is no other country in the world where someone of my modest origins would be able to make it to this place, and that's the story that millions of people have lived and relived from across the country.' Mr. Poilievre, who is from Calgary, added that he understands the frustrations of Albertans, which should not be dismissed. 'We have to put a final end to this notion that Ottawa tells Alberta to pay up and shut up, and that's what Albertans have been told by this Liberal government for a decade. Their frustrations are entirely legitimate.' The Conservatives will continue to fight for Albertans by calling for the repeal of 'anti-energy' laws, he said, as well as advocating for policies to shrink the size of the federal government. As well, he supports getting rid of 'dumb' gun laws and locking up the 'real criminals.' Alberta should also build alliances with other areas of Canada, he added, such as Newfoundland and Labrador on oil and gas, coastal First Nations on exporting liquified natural gas, and the Greater Toronto Area on combatting crime.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
How car thieves are making a profit without actually stealing a vehicle
Thieves are able to steal and resell cars without needing to taker the physical vehicle. (CTV News Toronto) Car thieves carried out a successful heist at an Ontario car dealership in September of 2020, making off with what they needed despite leaving a luxury vehicle sitting in the showroom. That's because the target was never the black Mercedes G Squared SUV, but its unique vehicle identification number (VIN), according to the Oakville-based dealer, Doug, who was wary of using his last name in an interview with CTV News. He said he found out when trying to transfer the vehicle into a customer's name at a Service Ontario, only to find out that the thieves had already assumed ownership of the car—at least on paper. 'We go there to put in a transfer,' Doug said. 'They say, 'Sorry, this car doesn't belong to you.' Meanwhile, it's been sitting in our showroom for quite a while.' Documents showed the car had been transferred to another company in 2020—documents that were obviously forged, Doug said. 'There's 35,000 kilometres on it, which for sure is not our car, because our car had no kilometres on it,' he said. Doug believes at some point thieves entered the showroom just to write down the car's VIN, so they could use it to register a similar car that had been stolen. 'They took our car's serial number, and put it on a stolen car,' he said. VIN theft Oakville-based car dealer, Doug, was initially unable to sell a black Mercedes G Squared SUV because its VIN had been stolen and used. (CTV News Toronto) Each car has its own 17 digit VIN, which can usually be found behind the windshield on the driver's side of the vehicle. It's used as a way to track the history of that specific car. But, fraudsters can apply a legitimate car's VIN to a stolen car in an attempt to disguise it and sell it in a process called re-vinning. While that means a sale can go through, it usually causes headaches for the buyer and the owner of the vehicle. New tools aim to help victims of VIN fraud Complaints of re-vinning are on the rise, according to Carfax, a company that sells vehicle history reports. 'It's definitely a scenario where one VIN is living two lives,' Carfax president Shawn Vording told CTV News. He said in some cases, innocent consumers have had their VIN used as a donor to register a stolen vehicle, which is often exported, though sometimes continues to be driven around the country. The company has estimated that there are more than 140,000 potentially cloned VINs driving Canadian streets, many of them likely stolen cars that have been sold, with the profits often going to organized criminals. Carfax has launched new monitoring tools that can alert a customer if there is any activity on their VIN, and if the customer doesn't recognize it, they can investigate. Vording says he hopes that the tool can detect any potential VIN fraud early, before any sales or transfers are disrupted. Carfax is also putting export data from the Canada Border Services Agency into its reports to watch for cars that have been disguised and then exported, while the donor VIN remains in the country. 'VIN fraud costs consumers a lot of money. We're hoping we can make a difference by mitigating the amount of fraud that happens. And if we can do something as a business to help defund organized crime, that's good for society overall,' Vording said. The provincial government has tightened up the system to register a car in the wake of a wave of an increase in car theft that has swept the nation. Around 69,000 cars were stolen across Canada in 2024, leading to more than a billion dollars in insurance losses. Police also laid several charges against Service Ontario workers earlier this year. One worker, Tonisha Baird, was convicted for trafficking in stolen vehicles, including one she was arrested while driving. But critics worry that despite recent changes, there aren't enough barriers to prevent thieves from using the province's car registration system to their advantage. 'It shouldn't be so easy for people to be able to steal a car, get it registered, and supposedly legitimized and then get it sold on our streets,' said NDP MPP Jennifer French. Documents involved in the transfer of the Mercedes G Squared from Doug's dealership led to a company whose director was initially charged in a shooting in Yorkville in 2016. Those charges were dropped, and in response to a subsequent lawsuit, Toronto Police Service admitted in legal filings there were problems in the investigation. CTV News tried the man at several different addresses, but couldn't reach him. His lawyer wasn't available for comment. The forgeries were obvious enough that Doug doubts that the Service Ontario employee made a mistake. 'You'll never stop this if they have someone crooked working in the license bureau, and that's what they've been combatting,' he said. With the help of Toronto police, an inspection of the G Squared SUV showed that it was the true vehicle that was tied to the VIN in question, and the transfer to the customer eventually went through.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Eureka Lithium Corp Announces Closing of Private Placement
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 14, 2025) - Eureka Lithium Corp. (CSE: ERKA) (OTCQB: SCMCF) (FSE: S580) (" Eureka Lithium" or " Eureka" or the " Company") is pleased to announce, further to its news release of June 24 th, 2025, it has closed a non-brokered private placement financing, issuing 9,984,993 units of the Company (the, " Units") for gross proceeds of $823,761.92 (the " Private Placement"). Each Unit consists of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (" Share") and one (1) purchase warrant (" Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase a Share at an exercise price of $0.11 for a period of 24 months from the date of closing. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for expenditures on its mineral exploration properties, and for general working capital purposes. All securities issued under the Offering are subject to a four-month and one-day hold period. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or available exemptions from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States, or in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Eureka Lithium Corp. Eureka Lithium is the largest lithium-focused landowner in the northern third of Quebec, known as the Nunavik region, with 100% ownership of three projects comprising 1,408 sq. km in the emerging Raglan West, Raglan South and New Leaf Lithium Camps. These claims were acquired from legendary prospector Shawn Ryan and are located in a region that hosts two operating nickel mines with deep-sea port access. For more information please contact: Cautionary Statement Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, such as statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Private Placement, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations and are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release.
