The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 1 - 66

Michelle Pidgeon * Chris Rogerson

their college or university experience. More
can be done in the pre-departure stage by
increasing the ways that First Nations communities support their students. The recommendations that emerged from responses
of the AHRP participants were that students
could be helped to develop a housing résumé
for finding off-campus housing, guided in
their applications for on-campus housing, and
provided with financial support for housing
applications and deposit fees. Postsecondary
institutions can provide more information
to students, their families, and communities
not only about program and application processes, but also-as our research participants
suggested-about on-campus accommodation
options (particularly those with Aboriginal-specific housing), support services, and/or
policies. Institutions could also provide better
outreach to Aboriginal students while they are
still in junior and senior high school to inform
them about housing and other services available at colleges and universities. In fact, some
Aboriginal orientation programs and/or bridging programs could integrate a stay-on-campus
component to support students' comfort and
awareness of what it means to live on campus.

LIMITATIONS
There are limitations to this research that
warrant mention. The first is that this study
was predominately conducted in a Western
province of Canada; a true national understanding of the role of housing in supporting
Aboriginal student success requires a broader
and more inclusive study that not only looks
at each province, but also examines a variety
of institutional and housing accommodation
types. Although the AHRP study had a good
representation of Aboriginal nations, it still
66

As the Aboriginal student
representation on our campuses
continues to grow, policies and
practices must be reflective of
their needs .

was limited in that not all of Canada's Aboriginal peoples were represented; a study with a
more national scope would enable a greater
understanding of the housing experiences and
needs of students from each of the Nations.
Future research could also explore the housing
needs of Indigenous students who are international students attending Canadian institutions: What would their cultural and housing
needs be compared to those of Aboriginal
Canadian students? With these limitations in
mind, the present study makes recommendations in the three areas of accommodation-
property, policy, and practice-to support both
on-campus and off-campus providers with
more insight into how to better support Aboriginal student success.

RECOMMENDATIONS
As discussed throughout this paper, the provision of relevant housing options for students is
a known intervention that can have a positive
impact on student outcomes. The Indigenous
Wholistic Framework used as part of this research has indicated that various housing barriers can prevent Indigenous students from
accessing the benefits of relevant student
housing options. Therefore, the following rec-

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 1

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