The McMaster Students Union conducted the 2024 Your City Survey to gather student input on transportation, housing and food security, helping to shape its municipal advocacy priorities
The MSU Your City Survey, which closed on Dec. 4, 2025, collected feedback about McMaster students’ perceptions and experiences in Hamilton, covering topics such as housing, transit, food security and policing. The survey is anonymous but participants have the option to provide their email for a chance to win a gift card to the Grind.
The MSU developed the survey in 2011, running every few years, to address students’ concerns about Hamilton. It asks students about their perceptions of Hamilton’s job market, cultural scene and their likelihood of living in the city after graduation.
In 2015, the Your City Survey was updated to assess whether students’ perception of Hamilton had improved since its launch. The most recent collection of data was in 2018. The questions in the survey shifted focus to transit and neighbourhood safety, while also asking commuter students about their perspectives in Hamilton.
This past year, the survey aimed to inform the MSU’s municipal affairs priorities, including advocating to city councillors and submitting feedback on students’ experience with the housing market, transportation, food security and policing in Hamilton for the upcoming pre-budget submission to City Council.
According to Kerry Yang, the associate vice-president of MSU Municipal Affairs, a document outlining McMaster students’ priorities and concerns for the budget and the city’s plan will be created and presented to city councillors at a later date.
Yang, whose role involves lobbying city councillors and engaging with students on municipal priorities, shared her thoughts on how the survey has evolved since 2018.
“I think how it’s evolved is this survey is probably the most comprehensive one to come out. It’s not just focused on housing, transit but has sort of all topics we typically want to know from students. Because it’s been so long since we did a survey, it was important that this one would be all encompassing and give us a really good snapshot of what the student experience is like,” said Yang.
... because it’s been so long since we did a survey, it was important that this one would be all encompassing and give us a really good snapshot of what the student experience is like.
Kerry Yang, Associate Vice-President of Municipal Affairs McMaster Students Union
When developing the questions for this year’s survey, Yang mentioned they reviewed previous surveys and made an effort to not only ask about students’ housing and transit experience. This survey also inquired about what would encourage students to stay in Hamilton, such as affordable housing options and having a vibrant community with public parks and trails.
“I think the diversity of the questions this year and also just how comprehensive it is, is definitely an improvement in the survey which will hopefully serve as a basis for future surveys. The benefit of asking the same questions year after year is that it makes the survey easy to compare over time,” said Yang.
I think the diversity of the questions this year and also just how comprehensive it is, is definitely an improvement in the survey which will hopefully serve as a basis for future surveys. The benefit of asking the same questions year after year is that it makes the survey easy to compare over time
Kerry Yang, Associate Vice-President of Municipal Affairs McMaster Students Union
Yang noted that she anticipates differences in the results compared to previous surveys, as the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the rental market and other aspects of student life.
Additionally, Yang mentioned that one potential policy recommendation, based on questions in the survey, to be brought to city councillors would be to pass a cooling bylaw that aligns with the existing heating bylaw.
Yang explained that there are currently regulations requiring heating to be turned on at certain temperatures during specific times of the year, but no similar rule exists for cooling. She noted that many students both on-campus and off-campus lack air conditioning which leads to uncomfortable living conditions.
“We are going to propose directly to the city that they implement the same or similar bylaw where students are being protected from the heat,” said Yang.
The results of the Your City Survey are expected to be released later this year.
Photo C/O Madeline Neumann
By: Ran Ren
It is strange how moving from a high school with 1000 students to a university populating over 30,000 can feel far lonelier. For how much high school is negatively tied with cliques and social hierarchies, there exists a certain stability in its tribalism — in sharing classes and cafeteria tables with the same people every day.
The fact that you can choose your friends in university is liberating. But there is an inherent hurdle to tackle: an increased difficulty in meeting new people. In a lecture hall of hundreds, friends are no longer whom you sit beside. Gone are the arranged seating plans that forced friendships throughout high school. It is disheartening when after all the handshakes and exchanges of names, your newly-made friends are nowhere to be found the next lecture.
A 2016 survey by the National College Health Assessment found that 68 per cent of Ontario students felt “very lonely” within the past year.
For all the glitz and glamour of constant parties and freedom from parents, the reality of university can be lonely and depressing. With the known links between isolation and other health problems, it is unsurprising then that 61 per cent of students also reported feeling “things are hopeless” and a greater 89 per cent feeling “overwhelmed”.
Social isolation is fundamentally a personal struggle. But so long as it results in mental health issues within students and a resultant strain on campus healthcare resources, it is McMaster University’s struggle as well. With the amount of money McMaster spends on fixing what’s already a problem — on counselors or therapy — can they afford to ignore the root cause of social isolation?
Implementing stronger support networks can help students. Friends can aid with studying, edit assignments or share notes for missed lectures. Socializing also provides a much-needed outlet for feelings of stress, frustration and sadness. Students who take care of their relationships also take better care of themselves: they exercise more often, eat healthier and sleep better.
Above all, McMaster as a higher education institution has a vested interest in creating students who will become the next generation’s politicians, doctors, engineers, artists, teachers and many more — careers which require soft skills, especially social skills. In our current market, workers need to be effective in dynamic group settings. And no one ever became charismatic by spending months studying alone in their dorm.
Of course, words are easier than actions, especially with such a difficult, pervasive issue. It’s not as though McMaster can hunt down lonely students and give them a pep talk.
So what can students do to expand their social circles? The easiest way to make friends is to be around people who share common interests. Every McMaster student automatically pays fees that support the McMaster Students Union, which hosts hundreds of diverse clubs across a wide range of topics including culture, recreation, academics or social issues. Finding new friends can be as easy as finding a club that matches your passion. Even outside of clubs, there are opportunities to meet others through athletics or volunteering.
McMaster has a responsibility to support, advertise and encourage new students to become involved in their community. They ultimately reap the benefits by creating students who are more engaged and with stronger soft skills. Most importantly, they’ll have a student body who are happy and healthy throughout their time at university.
Failing everything else, the simplest solution on the individual basis might be to merely introduce yourself to those sitting beside you during lecture or tutorial. In the end, we all need somebody to lean on.
