Carleton University ranks 10th on the list of the top 20 fastest growing sugar baby Canadian universities of 2015 according to seekingarrangement.com, the world’s largest “Sugar Daddy” dating website, with the University of Toronto (U of T) taking the top spot and McGill University in second.
Seeking Arrangement matches sugar daddies, wealthy men willing to pay for companionship, with a sugar baby, a woman who receives financial support from her daddy.
“Babies” typically post the amount of money they expect to have spent on them on their profile, while “daddies” are allowed to support up to eight babies.
This year, approximately 1.4 million university students are using sugar daddy dating to fund the expenses of post-secondary education, according to Seeking Arrangement. This is a 42 per cent increase from the year before.
Seeking Arrangement spokesperson Brook Urick attributed this growth to word spreading in Canada, as well as rises in tuition.
She said 93 Carleton students signed up for the website in 2014.
The average sugar baby is 26 years old and about one-third are college or university students, while the average sugar daddy is 39, Urick said. She said this type of relationship is mutually beneficial.
“The typical university student on the site is looking for someone who can help pay for her housing and her tuition while she’s in school. In exchange for that, they’re looking for a boyfriend. They’re looking for someone who can support them emotionally and financially,” she said.
In turn, she said most sugar daddies are busy, successful men who are not looking to settle down and who do not have time for traditional relationships.
Tuition rates in Canada are growing steadily. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives projects students in Ontario can expect to pay $9,483 in tuition in the 2017-18 school year. Graduates are also expected to come out of university with $27,000 in debt, according to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).
Founded in 2006, Seeking Arrangement created the sugar baby university advertising concept last year to reach out to students, presenting an alternative to living on a tight student budget and a way to graduate debt-free. On average, sugar babies receive $2,600 in monthly allowances.
“Seeking Arrangement is a dating website. The only real difference here is that people are open to listing their financial expectations,” Urick said. “There’s really nothing wrong with seeking that out. Seeking Arrangement is an open, honest place where these people can find each other.”
Jenni Theriault, a second-year student at Carleton, said she could understand why some students might see a sugar relationship as a last resort.
“If you can’t get a student loan, or you don’t qualify for OSAP, you won’t be able to afford to go to school. I can see why some people turn to whatever they have to to get an education,” she said.
When asked whether there is potential for sugar babies to be exploited by their daddies, Urick said the risks and sexual expectations are no different from those on other dating sites.
“We’re unapologetic about the fact that romantic relationships do have a sexual component, and romantic relationships do have a financial component, and that’s kind of the way the world is. To be upfront and conscious about that is really the future of dating if you look at it that way,” she said.
