Jonny Chard | News Editor
Featured image: Students are finding alternative ways to pay for tuition through matchmaking services. | Amir Yazdanparast
York has been ranked as the fourth-highest Canadian university for sign ups to a “sugar daddy” matchmaking website.
Statistics released by Seeking Arrangement show that 533 York students are currently signed up to the service, which looks to match users with affluent benefactors who can provide them with a monthly allowance and gifts in exchange for their company.
The site has a total of 631,678 registered users in Canada, of which 412,528 are female “sugar babies.” One-third of all users are post-secondary students.
Hayllie Durette, a fourth-year visual arts student, feels that the normalization of sugar daddy websites as part of university life risks painting York in an unsavoury light.
“Unfortunately, the statistics don’t surprise me. There’s always talk about these websites and it’s become normalized in a way,” she says.
“It’s not sending a good message out to the public,” adds Durette.
Many university union leaders, including Fahim Rahman, of seventh-ranked University of Alberta, feel the popularity may also stem from a growing worry within the student community about the cost of tuition, rent and books.
YFS was not available for comment in time for publication.
Average tuition fees for full-time Canadian students at York stands at $6,408 per year, and at over $20,000 for international students. Books, rent, groceries and other daily costs add thousands more.
A York student and previous user of Seeking Arrangement, who chose to not disclose her name for privacy concerns, claims that many people who sign up for the site do so due to the financial stresses of university.
“I didn’t have a job […] and I didn’t have any money for rent, so I was kind of desperate,” she says.
“I dealt with a lot of creeps and weirdos when I was signed up, […] exploiting and manipulating financially desperate young women for sex. It’s not exactly a consensual relationship when you’re desperate for money.”
The site claims to provide transparency, with clients able to negotiate financial arrangements and address expectations in advance.
Student advocates warn, however, that users can be exposed to potential exploitation and abuse, which could leave them feeling trapped and unable to disentangle themselves from bad situations.
The ex-“sugar baby” also told Excalibur that although York provides enough awareness about avenues for financial aid, such as bursaries, loans and part-time employment, the assistance is often not enough.
Janice Walls of York media, highlights that for students whose financial needs are above OSAP, there is a Student Access Guarantee for assistance with tuition fees that is available to all students in Ontario.
The Province of Ontario is also introducing further measures to provide more affordable and accessible education to students from lower-income families.
“One of the primary parts of this includes providing grants sufficient to cover the average cost of tuition for students from families with incomes of $50,000 or less,” says Walls.
York students also have access to many institutional, donor-funded and government scholarships, awards and bursaries that can be applied for through the Student Financial Profile.
