We are guided by UBC land governance processes and do our work in collaboration with Musqueam, the campus community and our campus neighbours.
Vancouver Campus History
The UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
The Government of British Columbia chose Point Grey as the site for UBC in 1910. At the time, the Minister of Education said UBC would be “a small city which is capable of being made one of the most interesting and beautiful in the world.” Campus and Community Planning helps deliver that vision.
Learn more about the History of Campus Planning
Land Governance Policies
The key land governance policies at UBC are:
- The University Act: This Act gives authority to UBC’s Board of Governors to make decisions about campus lands, roads and buildings.
- The Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act: This Act states that all decisions by the UBC Board of Governors must be consistent with the provincially-approved UBC Land Use Plan.
- UBC Policy UP12: Land Use, Permitting and Sustainability: This policy sets up the process for developing land use plans, policies and rules. It is also the main policy that guides Campus and Community Planning in creating land use, sustainability and transportation plans and policies.
Decision Making
Land use decisions are about balancing interests. At UBC, these include academic needs, housing affordability, ecological health, wellbeing, and economic sustainability. Our planning work also considers technical issues like utility capacity, transportation needs and development costs. All of this work is guided by public engagement with the campus community, our partners, and our neighbours. The UBC Board of Governors makes final decisions about how the campus grows and changes.
UBC’s Endowment
UBC’s Endowment provides ongoing financial support for research and funding to enable academic excellence. The Endowment includes generous donations from individuals and groups. It also includes revenue from land development.
UBC is the steward for 994 acres of campus endowment lands. The province gave these lands to UBC almost 100 years ago with the vision that land development would support a ‘margin of excellence’ beyond what a publicly-funded university could achieve. UBC generates land development revenue by leasing neighbourhood lands for 99 years and by developing and managing rental housing. UBC then endows the revenue, which generates income to support the academic mission. In this way, UBC preserves both its lands and the revenue in perpetuity for faculty, students, research and staff.
Learn more about the UBC Endowment from UBC Finance
