Our campus

We’re like a combination of a city and a large, complex corporation

Founded in 1908, the UBC Point Grey campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people on the University Endowment Lands. Wrapped in 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of dense forest known as Pacific Spirit Regional Park, our campus proper consists of more than 400 hectares (990 acres) of public realm containing 838,000 square metres (9,021,000 square feet) of academic building space, and another 760,000 square metres (8,176,000 square feet) of ancillary space such as student housing and athletic facilities.

Like a city within a city

Beyond being a large, complex corporation, UBC Vancouver is an independent community — like a city within a city. UBC Vancouver is not part of the formal City of Vancouver, nor are we led by its mayor and council. In fact UBC Vancouver is sited on and surrounded by the University Endowment Lands which are directly administered by the Government of British Columbia.

The British Columbia University Act confers on the UBC board of governors responsibility for the management, administration, and control of the property, revenue, business, and affairs of the University. What does this mean for our campus? Unlike many other universities, UBC owns and operates our own utilities, including electrical, heating, water, and waste. We are responsible for our own roads and infrastructure. We have our own planning department which regulates land use and development. We do not rely on the City of Vancouver for these or other services.

In 2015, UBC signed a Strategic Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding with Metro Vancouver. It ensures we will continue to improve our integration with the greater Vancouver community, targeting the areas of research, learning, innovation, operations, and regional prosperity.