Housing decision · Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador
Build a realistic first-year living plan
- 1EligibilityGuarantee and application rules
- 2OptionsBuildings, rooms, communities
- 3Full costResidence, meals, deposits
- 4CommitDeadlines and backup housing
Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Residence & Housing
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Housing, commute, campus setting, and city fit. This focused guide keeps the detailed tables, official sources, and practical next steps in one manageable reading path.
Reviewed August 16, 2026 · Information checked against official university sources · How we review guides
Residence and Campus Fit
Memorial residence rates and the October 15 application window
Memorial publishes something unusually useful: a year-labelled housing calendar that runs ahead of its academic one. Residence applications for Winter and Fall 2027 open October 15, 2026. What it does not publish is a first-year residence guarantee — no page reviewed for this guide states that new direct-from-high-school students are guaranteed a room, so apply early in the window rather than assuming a safety net.
| Residence | Room type | Published rate |
|---|---|---|
| Paton College (traditional) — double room | Double bedroom, washroom shared per wing | $5,237 Fall 2026 · $5,357 Winter 2027, mandatory meal plan included |
| Paton College (traditional) — single room | Single bedroom, washroom shared per wing | $5,505 Fall 2026 · $5,625 Winter 2027, mandatory meal plan included |
| Macpherson College (suite) | Single bedroom, shared or semi-private washroom | $6,195 Fall 2026 · $6,315 Winter 2027, mandatory meal plan included |
| Burton's Pond Apartments | Two-room apartment, shared washroom | $3,000 per person per semester; no meal plan bundled into the posted rate |
| Burton's Pond family apartments | Two- to four-room family units | $1,300 per month |
| Grenfell Campus — Arts and Science Residence | Standard private room or bachelor room | $2,083 per semester standard private · $2,252 per semester bachelor |
| Grenfell Campus — Residence Complex | Standard private room or bachelor room | $2,217 per semester for both room types |
| Grenfell Campus — Chalet Apartments | Standard private room in a two-bedroom suite | $2,378 per semester; family chalet accommodation is $3,660 per semester |
Application fee
$40 per semester
Non-refundable, charged each semester you apply for residence.
Confirmation fee
$500
Credited toward your accommodation charges — and the amount at risk if you cancel inside 15 days of the contract start.
Grenfell savings
Roughly half
A Grenfell standard private room is $2,083–$2,378 per semester against $5,237–$6,315 per semester in St. John's, though the Grenfell rate carries no meal-plan statement.
No published residence guarantee
Memorial publishes a calendar, not a promise
Several universities in this library guarantee first-year residence for direct-from-high-school students who apply by a stated date. Memorial does not publish one on the residence pages reviewed here. What it does publish is the sequence: applications for Winter and Fall 2027 open October 15, 2026, returning students renew October 19 to 25, 2026 for Winter 2027 and February 9 to 20, 2027 for Fall 2027, and new-student room selection for Winter 2027 begins November 9. Apply as early in that window as you can, and email housing@mun.ca directly if a guarantee matters to your decision.
Read the meal plan into the St. John's rate
The Paton College and Macpherson College figures already include mandatory meal plan fees, which is why they look high against Grenfell's. Burton's Pond Apartments at $3,000 per person per semester and the $1,300 per month family units are apartment-style, and the posted rates do not bundle a meal plan — so the true comparison is not rate against rate but rate-plus-groceries against rate-with-food. Memorial also charges $20 per night for students staying outside the set semester start and end dates.
Current housing
St. John's residence communities
Memorial's St. John's residence system is built around three communities: Paton College (traditional), Macpherson College (suite style), and Burton's Pond Apartments.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Student residences: communities in St. John's · Verified August 16, 2026
Fall 2026 / Winter 2027
St. John's residence rates for Fall 2026 and Winter 2027
Paton College traditional: double room with washroom shared per wing at $5,237 Fall 2026 and $5,357 Winter 2027; single room at $5,505 and $5,625. Macpherson College suite with a single bedroom and shared or semi-private washroom: $6,195 and $6,315. All three rates include mandatory meal plan fees. Burton's Pond Apartments two-room units are $3,000 per person per semester, and Burton's Pond family accommodation is $1,300 per month.
Memorial has not published Fall 2027 residence rates. Use these as a planning baseline, not a 2027 quote.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Residence fees for Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 · Verified August 16, 2026
Current housing
Residence application and confirmation charges
A $40 non-refundable residence application fee applies per semester, plus a $500 confirmation fee that is credited toward accommodation charges. Memorial charges $20 per night for students staying outside the set semester start and end dates.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Residence fees for Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 · Verified August 16, 2026
Current housing
Residence cancellation terms
Cancellation outcomes depend on timing before the contract start. At 30 or more days out a new student receives a full refund and a returning student faces no charge. At 15 to 30 days out a new student receives a $250 refund and a returning student is charged $250. Inside 15 days a new student receives no refund and a returning student is charged $500.
The $500 confirmation fee is the amount at risk if you cancel late, so treat it as a real commitment rather than a placeholder.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Residence fees for Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 · Verified August 16, 2026
Winter and Fall 2027
Residence dates that carry a genuine 2027 label
Residence applications for Winter and Fall 2027 open October 15, 2026. Returning students renew rooms October 19 to 25, 2026 for Winter 2027 and February 9 to 20, 2027 for Fall 2027. New-student room selection for Winter 2027 begins November 9, and a room change period for returning residents runs January 12 to 16, 2027.
This is the clearest forward-looking calendar Memorial publishes for the 2027 cycle — earlier and more specific than its academic deadlines page.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Residence important dates and deadlines · Verified August 16, 2026
Fall 2027
First-year residence guarantee
No first-year residence guarantee appears on the Memorial residence pages reviewed for this guide. Memorial publishes an application calendar and a fee schedule but does not state that new direct-from-high-school students are guaranteed a room.
Apply as early in the October 15, 2026 window as you can and contact housing@mun.ca directly if a guarantee matters to your decision. Do not assume one exists.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Student residences: communities in St. John's · Verified August 16, 2026
Not year-labelled on the Grenfell housing page
Grenfell Campus residence rates
Arts and Science Residence: standard private room $2,083 per semester, bachelor room $2,252. Residence Complex: standard private room and bachelor room both $2,217 per semester. Chalet Apartments: standard private room $2,378 per semester. Family Chalet Apartments: $3,660 per semester. Grenfell describes spacious two-bedroom suites where each private bedroom is fully furnished with a single bed, built-in storage, a desk, and a chair.
The Grenfell housing page carries no academic-year label and no meal-plan statement, so confirm both with Grenfell housing before budgeting. On the posted figures Grenfell housing runs well under half the St. John's rate.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Grenfell Campus housing and residence rates · Verified August 16, 2026
Campus and community: what Memorial publishes about student life
Memorial runs one student experience across four campuses and an international community of 3,000+ students from more than 100 countries. These cards use only mun.ca statements about scale, the Grenfell environment, first-year advising, the required non-credit courses, registration windows, and how Memorial now describes its own affordability.
University-published counts
International community
Memorial publishes 3,000+ international students from over 100 countries across four teaching campuses in Newfoundland and Labrador plus online programming.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: About Memorial: scale, campuses, and ranking signals · Verified August 16, 2026
Current positioning
How Memorial now describes its own affordability
Memorial's undergraduate admissions page states that it offers affordable tuition rates in Canada for both Canadian and international students. It does not claim to be the lowest-cost university in the country on any page reviewed for this guide.
The wording has softened alongside the post-2022 framework. Compare the published $225 and $750 per-credit-hour rates against your other offers rather than relying on Memorial's historical reputation.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Undergraduate admissions and programs home · Verified August 16, 2026
Current positioning
What Grenfell offers that St. John's does not
Memorial describes Grenfell Campus as small yet mighty, a place to ask bold questions, to aspire, to express yourself fully, to test theories, and to make discoveries, cultivating a tight-knit, diverse community where students make real connections with classmates.
This is Memorial's own framing rather than a measured class-size statistic; the Grenfell pages reviewed publish no student-to-faculty ratio.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Grenfell Campus, Corner Brook · Verified August 16, 2026
Current support
First-year advising and support
Memorial's first-year hub tells new students the best way to begin is by booking an appointment with an academic advisor or attending an academic advising session, and states that Memorial's support units are there to help students achieve their goals and succeed.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: First-year information hub · Verified August 16, 2026
Current process
Required non-credit courses before the semester starts
Memorial requires new students to complete science safety courses, Integrity 1000, and sexual violence awareness training before the semester starts.
These are administrative gates rather than academic ones, but they sit between admission and a clean first week.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: I've been admitted: offer response, deposit, PAL, registration · Verified August 16, 2026
Current process
Course registration windows
Memorial assigns each student a registration time through Student Self-Service. Registration windows run mid-July to mid-September for fall, early November to mid-January for winter, and end of March to mid-May for spring.
Memorial University of Newfoundland: I've been admitted: offer response, deposit, PAL, registration · Verified August 16, 2026
Official Memorial residence and student-life sources
Housing and Location Questions
| Campus Setting | Regional university city with a defined campus community |
|---|---|
| Residence | Check residence guarantee rules, first-year room styles, meal plans, deposit deadlines, and off-campus housing pressure. |
| City Fit | Students should compare transit, weather, cost of living, safety, and community feel in St. John's. |
| Commuting | If living off campus, map commute time to classes, labs, placements, and evening activities before committing. |
Official Sources and Next Steps
Stellar keeps this guide structured for comparison, but official university pages remain the source of truth for program requirements, tuition, residence, scholarships, deadlines, and policy changes.
Prepared by Stellar Advisers Editorial Team · Reviewed August 16, 2026 · Editorial, corrections, and source methodology