Kingston Student Housing Co-operative

What Kingston Student Housing Co-operative does

Kingston Student Housing Co-operative, operating under the legal name Science '44 Co-operative Inc., is a member-owned, not-for-profit student housing co-operative founded in 1941 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The organization owns and operates 21 properties providing 171 furnished member rooms, all within a 10-minute walk of Queen's University and a 10-minute bus ride to St. Lawrence College. It serves undergraduate and graduate students at Queen's University, St. Lawrence College, and the Royal Military College, with explicit outreach to international exchange students seeking short-term leases. Members are simultaneously owners, residents, and operators, governing the co-op through a nine-person student Board of Directors while completing kitchen duties and operational hours in exchange for housing and meal services.

The co-op's product surface consists of three core offerings: a furnished student housing accommodation product with flexible lease terms (4, 8, and 12 months) priced from $4,258 to $8,615 per term with all-inclusive fees covering utilities, Wi-Fi, laundry, and cleaning supplies; a meal-plan program providing 16 meals per week to 128 of its 171 rooms in exchange for 3 hours of weekly kitchen duties; and a Summer Stays program monetizing surplus capacity from May through August at $482.50/month for non-members. There is no proprietary technology stack; operations rely on standard property management and administrative processes, supported by a website-based direct application funnel and a small staff of approximately 5 full-time, 5 part-time, and 3–5 seasonal employees plus the student board.

The revenue model is subscription/recurring membership fees set collectively by members at General Member Meetings, supplemented by one-time new-member fees ($75 admin plus $750 refundable performance deposit), parking fees ($180–$400/term), and partial meal-plan add-ons. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the co-op's own website and campus outreach to Queen's, St. Lawrence College, RMC, and international student offices; there are no third-party resellers or channel partners. Pricing is positioned at approximately half the cost of comparable university residence, and a 15-year portfolio-wide energy efficiency retrofit program has cut electricity and water consumption by 50%, eliminating all on-site oil use.

Name

Kingston Student Housing Co-operative

Legal name

Science '44 Co-operative Inc.

Website

https://studenthousingkingston.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1941

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kingston Student Housing Co-operative is a member-owned, not-for-profit student housing co-operative operating 21 properties with 171 rooms in Kingston, Ontario, serving post-secondary students at Queen's University, St. Lawrence College, and RMC at approximately half the cost of university residence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Housing

NAICS

Rooming and Boarding Houses, Dormitories, and Workers' Camps (72131)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Off-Campus Shared Student Houses (Room-by-Room) (THAMAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student-Focused Co-Living (Flexible, Community-Led) (THAMAGAI), Off-Campus / University-Affiliated Housing Management (EDAEAFAB), Cooperative (Co-op) Housing Association Management (BPAJAHAC)

Keywords

• Student housing cooperative
• Not-for-profit housing
• Meal plan services
• Student accommodation
• Cooperative living

Headquarters

HQ city

Kingston

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Member Accommodation Fees: Co-operative housing fees covering rent, utilities, cleaning supplies, furnishings, Wi-Fi, laundry, and social events. Fees vary by lease length from 4-month to 12-month terms.
2. Meal Plan Fees: Mandatory meal plan for meal-plan house members providing 16 meals per week; optional partial plan for non-meal plan members. Kitchen duties performed by members in exchange for meal services.
3. New Member Fees: Admin and membership fees of $75 plus $750 refundable performance deposit for new members.
4. Parking Fees: Member parking at $180/term, non-member parking at $400/term.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kingston Student Housing Co-operative provides furnished student housing accommodation across 21 properties with 171 member rooms for post-secondary students in Kingston, Ontario. The co-operative offers all-inclusive fees covering utilities, cleaning supplies, Wi-Fi, laundry, and furnishings, alongside a meal plan program providing 16 meals per week with member participation in kitchen duties. The organization serves students of Queen's University, St. Lawrence College, and RMC, with flexible lease terms ranging from 4-month to 12-month periods and summer stays available.

Product overview

Kingston Student Housing Co-operative operates as a not-for-profit student housing organization offering two core services: student housing accommodation across 21 properties with 171 rooms, and a meal plan program with 129 available meal plan spots. The housing includes furnished rooms in various sizes (from extra small to jumbo) with all-inclusive fees covering utilities, Wi-Fi, laundry, and cleaning supplies. The optional meal plan provides 16 meals per week with member participation in kitchen duties. The organization also offers summer stays for both members and non-members. Properties are located within walking distance of Queen's University campus.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Student Housing Accommodation
• Meal Plan Program
• Summer Stays

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% reduction in electrical and water usage, saving 210,000 kilowatt hours and 6.0 million litres of water annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada): National federation representing Canada's co-operative housing sector, including KSHC's broader category. Comparable as the umbrella industry body for co-op housing governance, financing, and advocacy across Canada.
• Queen's University Residence: On-campus residence operations at Queen's University. Not a co-op but the primary direct competitor KSHC positions against — the benchmark for the "half the cost of residence" value proposition and the principal alternative for Queen's undergraduates.

Regional players

• Toronto Student Housing Co-op: Student co-operative housing operating in the Greater Toronto Area. Regional peer operating under the same Canadian co-op housing principles but serving U of T and surrounding institutions rather than Kingston's universities.

Direct peers

• Inter-Cooperative Council at Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor-based student housing co-operative serving University of Michigan students. Operates ~20+ houses under the same member-owned, kitchen-duty-in-exchange-for-housing model as KSHC, making it a strong North American peer despite operating in a different country.
• Berkeley Student Cooperative: Large student housing co-operative serving UC Berkeley students with member-governed houses, meal plans, and a work-exchange program. Operates at significantly larger scale than KSHC but shares the core co-op ownership, meal-plan, and kitchen-duty operating model.
• Campus Co-operative Residences Inc. Waterloo, Ontario-based student housing co-operative providing off-campus, member-governed housing near the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. Closest functional peer to KSHC in the Canadian student co-op housing space, with the same not-for-profit, member-owned operating model.
• Oberlin Student Cooperative Association: Student-run cooperative housing association serving Oberlin College. Comparable to KSHC as a small, member-owned student co-op with shared kitchens, work expectations, and community-oriented living in a single college town.

Others

• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC): Canadian federal housing agency that provided the original CMHC mortgage enabling KSHC's 1968 expansion. An enabling/infrastructure counterparty rather than a competitor, but a critical institutional relationship for any future co-op housing acquisition financing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kingston-student-housing-co-operative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kingston Student Housing Co-operative