{"id":494,"date":"2025-12-17T14:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.findstoragefast.ca\/blog\/?p=494"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:53:09","slug":"milking-the-student-cash-cow-halifax-students-boost-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.findstoragefast.ca\/blog\/milking-the-student-cash-cow-halifax-students-boost-the-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Milking the Student Cash Cow \u2013 Halifax Students Boost the Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Milking the Student Cash Cow \u2013 Halifax Students Boost the Economy<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Many Haligonians probably don\u2019t realize there are three universities and two colleges all within their city\u2019s postage stamp perimeter. Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, is a bustling but somehow still intimate port city, so it can be pretty tough to believe that there\u2019s this multitude of post-secondary opportunity squashed into this beautiful, historic city. And yet, it\u2019s the college town to end all college towns: five very unique schools thrive here, each with a different focus and a very different set of students.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Learners<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dalhousie, known for its medical school and Canada\u2019s leading neurosurgical unit, is the leader of the pack with a whopping student enrollment of almost 19,000 students. A close (ish) second is NSCC, with around 11,000 students\u2014this is just one of 13 college campuses across the province offering vocational training.<\/span><\/p>

After that, the schools become smaller and more focused: with 7,500 students, Saint Mary\u2019s University is a tiny but proud school, with fierce sports teams and a strong international business presence. Mount Saint Vincent, the quintessential historic university, has just 2500 (mostly female) students, which means small class sizes and incredibly satisfied students. Rounding out the list is the prestigious NSCAD, an art school that is most definitely <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> teeming with artsy hippies\u2014the very small school takes on just under 1000 students and works hard to cultivate a very strong artistic presence in the city.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Spenders<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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So, what does that mean for you? When you combine the students from all five schools, that\u2019s an impressive 10% of the city\u2019s population. And yet, Halifax doesn\u2019t feel like a city that\u2019s overcrowded with students, in the way that Ontario\u2019s Waterloo or Toronto does. It might have something to do with the fact that it isn\u2019t cheap to study in Halifax; in fact, Nova Scotia has some of the <\/span>highest tuition rates<\/span><\/a> in Canada, which deters a lot of full-time party students (that\u2019s a heck of a lot of beer money). And despite having the <\/span>most pubs per capita<\/span><\/a> in the country, Halifax just doesn\u2019t draw the kind of aimless, destructive students you\u2019re worried about. You have to really want to come study here, and the quality of students reflects that.<\/span><\/p>

It might also have something to do with the overarching friendliness of the East coast; it\u2019s a lot harder to justify raging frat parties when your neighbour just had you all over for a lobster cookout the weekend before. Haligonians are very community oriented, and students tend to embrace this lifestyle wholeheartedly. It\u2019s a culture that\u2019s completely unique in Canada, and international and out-of-province students can\u2019t help but fall in love with the easy-going and welcoming vibe. It\u2019s hard to trash a city that\u2019s chock full of historic landmarks and quaint mom \u2018n pop shops.<\/span><\/p>

While September and June might make you want to outlaw moving trucks, there\u2019s a lot of perks to having the influx of students every year (aside from all the abandoned sidewalk furniture your heart could desire). From the financial side of things, they create a pretty significant boon to the economy year-round\u2014unlike the hordes of tourists that leave behind chaos and desolation at the end of the summer (that might be a slight exaggeration, but you get the drift). In fact, students in Halifax spend an average of $1100 per month, which adds up pretty quickly when you consider that\u2019s 10% of the population. They\u2019re spending big on off-campus housing, late night wedges at \u201cpizza corners\u201d, taxi fare, <\/span>summer storage rentals<\/span><\/a>, dinners out, clothing, and so much more, and locals are the ones reaping the benefits\u2014over $350,000,000 every school year, to be precise.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Contributors<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Halifax is one of the best university cities in the country, simply because it doesn\u2019t feel like there even is a school here\u2014let alone <\/span>five<\/span><\/i>. The students bring a lot more to the city than they take away; take sporting games for example, which are primetime and very serious events attended by people from all over the city that generate a ton of excitement (and cold-hard cash). The renowned NSCAD students actually contribute a ton of art to the cultural scene and local galleries, which helps boost the tourist attractions.<\/span><\/p>

One of the best parts of having so many students? They get 4+ years of exposure to Atlantic life, and it\u2019s not hard to convince them to become lifers. And with their rich collection of art, medical, and vocational degrees, Halifax welcomes these graduates with arms wide open. So if you can get over a couple weeks of traffic jams and tough-to-find parking, you\u2019ll quickly see the dust settle and life go back to normal; after all, the students came here to see, study, and\u2014unbeknownst to them\u2014spend a whack of money, so let\u2019s go ahead and let them.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many Haligonians probably don\u2019t realize there are three universities and two colleges all within their city\u2019s postage stamp perimeter. Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, is a bustling but somehow still intimate port city, so it can be pretty tough to believe that there\u2019s this multitude of post-secondary opportunity squashed into this beautiful, historic city. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student"],"yoast_head":"\nMilking the Student Cash Cow \u2013 Halifax Students Boost the Economy - Find Storage Fast Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.findstoragefast.ca\/blog\/milking-the-student-cash-cow-halifax-students-boost-the-economy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Milking the Student Cash Cow \u2013 Halifax Students Boost the Economy - Find Storage Fast Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many Haligonians probably don\u2019t realize there are three universities and two colleges all within their city\u2019s postage stamp perimeter. 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