Some Fanshawe College students say finding affordable and convenient parking on campus can be a challenge, especially during the busy times during the day.
Fanshawe student Yeva Prytkova said that Fanshawe saves a lot of the parking passes for residence and out of town students, which makes it challenging for locals.
“You have to talk to the school about it, but they save a lot of the parking spots for like out-of-town students and residence students so you’re not even able to as a local anymore,” she said.
photo: Yeva Prytkova, photography, year 1. (Torey Joseph Legarrie)
She says that she wasn’t able to get a parking pass, and the parking on campus is expensive.
“I was late getting a parking pass and I didn’t get to get one, so I just have to park in that lot over there that’s $6.50 per day,” she said.
She said she does not think that parking is affordable.
“No. I’m pretty sure for the parking pass for one term it’s $200, and then $6.50 per-day for the lot, and then there’s also hourly parking. I’m not sure how much that is, but its not very affordable,” she said.
“I don’t live outside of London, but it still takes me 30 minutes to get to school,” she said.
On Sept, 1, 2026, the Fanshawe parking fees increased by $1 as part of a two-year rate increase. Students using general parking used to pay $5.50 per entry, but now pay $6.50.
“We are continually trying to improve parking,” said Burton Haggith, manager of ancillary operations for the college. “This is why the college offers a greatly discounted LTC (bus) pass that we encourage students to use.”
“The reality is that we will never have enough parking for everyone who wants it,” he said in an email response to XFM News.
Haggith said the college advises full time students to make use of their LTC bus if possible. For those who have to drive to campus, the flat-rate parking lots are the best options.
“If you absolutely need to park on campus, try to arrive early to get unto Lot 5 or Lot 8 as they are the most affordable option,” Haggith said.
Haggith said that the operating costs caught up and the price increase was necessary.
“We did a market adjustment on our prices, which had been kept below the rate of inflation for a 15-year period. Unfortunately, our operating costs caught up and a price increase was necessary,” he said.
photo: Burton Haggith, manager, ancillary services. (LinkedIn)
“This year we also combined the parking team with the FANcard team, which helps save students time at the start of term – its one-stop shopping for FANcard, parking and locker services,” he said.
Fanshawe student Carson Brock said the difficulty of finding parking on campus depends on the time of day.
“It depends on the time you’re getting here in the day. Some days I’m here early so the early mornings its not too tough. But mid afternoon its a bit of an issue sometimes,” Brock said.
“Sometimes I’ll have 3 hours between my classes and its a little tough cause I would like to leave and go do something around the city, but I’m kinda handcuffed by that $6.50 so I gotta stay,” Brock said.
photo: Carson Brock, pre-health, year 1. (Torey Joseph Legarrie)
Brock said that $6.50 is reasonable, but a cut on parking could be good.
“Yeah its decently reasonable, but we pay a decent amount of money to be here so maybe a little bit of a cut on parking could be good,” Brock said.
Brock said that more parking spots could make the parking on campus better.
“Again with that late afternoon spot. Maybe a couple more spots. Even a dollar less everyday helps a bunch. You’re saving 5-6 bucks a week. So yeah, I think maybe jotting it down a little bit, adding a couple more spots could be beneficial,” Brock said.
