Community leaders at the AMS SkyTrain rally on Oct. 1 called on the provincial and federal governments to support the construction of a SkyTrain extension to UBC’s Point Grey campus. Despite the rain, event organizers reported over a thousand attendees at the rally held outside the Nest.
The rally is one component of the AMS’s advocacy plan to push for provincial and federal support for the project. By the time the rally took place, the first stage of the plan — a petition calling on the provincial government to release the extension’s business case and for all levels of government to fund the project — had over 15,000 signatures.
At the plaza outside the Nest, students, volunteers, media and community members gathered before speeches began. While some people in the crowd were just passing by or were there for the free barbecue provided by the AMS, dozens gathered in front of a stage holding signs distributed by volunteers and AMS VP External Solomon Yi-Kieran, the event’s main coordinator, led the crowd through a series of chants before they started their speech.
Yi-Kieran thanked the SkyTrain petition's signers and participants at the rally for their assistance in achieving one of the goals of the AMS’s SkyTrain campaign: generating media attention.
“Thanks to you, we got the SkyTrain in the news. There's so much media here today. We generated so much attention that the premier released a statement about the importance of the SkyTrain just today,” they told the audience.
In the statement, Premier David Eby recognizes the “potential the UBC Extension has,” and commits to working with key partners including the federal government, to advance the project’s planning work. The Ubyssey received the same statement from the premier’s office.
Yi-Kieran also outlined some of the AMS’s demands of the provincial and federal governments.
“We want to see the provincial government finally release the business case so that we know what the plan for the project is,” they said, emphasizing the urgent need for the extension. “Most importantly, we want to see the provincial and federal governments come together and put a combined funding agreement into the 2026 budget.”
The Ubyssey contacted the Prime Minister’s Office for a comment on the SkyTrain campaign but did not receive a response by publication.
According to UBC’s latest Transportation Status Report, 79,000 daily transit trips were made to and from campus during fall 2024, accounting for 52 per cent of all trips to UBC. Despite the reliance on public transportation and years of advocacy by the AMS, a UBC SkyTrain extension has been under consideration by the provincial government since 2008.
“92 per cent of people in Metro Vancouver support the SkyTrain to UBC. So why hasn't it been built yet? Maybe it's because it has been years since we came out as a community, united in our voice, and called for the SkyTrain to finally be built,” said Yi-Kieran.
They stated that the AMS’s advocacy plan aims to take their demands to Vancouver City Hall and “all the way to the legislature in Victoria.”
UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon also declared his support for the campaign at the rally.
“I'm proud to stand here with all of you to bring the SkyTrain to UBC. This is certainly a priority for the university as well, as much as it is for all of you. We're all pushing hard for the SkyTrain to UBC,” he said.
Bacon’s speech was followed by Vancouver City Councillors Lucy Maloney and Sean Orr.
“All of [Vancouver City] Council is committed to this. This isn't a partisan thing. You know who else is on board? The Musqueam, the Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh [Nations],” said Orr.
Maloney said the councillors were “in Victoria, asking the minister for transport, asking the premier to extend the SkyTrain out to UBC.” She then asked the audience to participate in the introduction of the motion in discussion at Vancouver City Council on Oct. 8.
“We need to keep the pressure up so that the provincial and federal governments make sure they prioritize funding for [the] UBC [extension] right now,” added Maloney.
The last new speaker was Michelle Scarr, director of strategy and operations at the transit advocacy non-profit Movement. The organization was previously behind the ‘Save the Bus’ campaign that was on campus earlier this year in March.
Scarr said that Movement collaborated with the AMS over the petition for the SkyTrain to UBC, and that students can get governments to act on the SkyTrain extension.
“I hope that you, as a transit rider, recognize the power we have,” she said.
Despite the years of advocacy to build the extension, its proponents are still optimistic about their campaign’s efforts.
“You don't just ask once for something. You ask multiple times, and you ask in different ways: in person, meetings with ministers, meetings with government, petitions and motions by City Hall,” Orr told The Ubyssey in an interview after his speech.
Students at the rally told The Ubyssey that a UBC SkyTrain would be convenient and accessible for students who do not own a private vehicle and depend on public transportation to get to UBC.
One student named Paige found that the extension would open up a lot of transit possibilities for those without private vehicles. “I feel like Vancouver is not a very accessible city for a lot of people, especially if you don't have a car. It'd be nice to see the SkyTrain expanded,” they said.
Yi-Kieran said that they were confident in the AMS’s plans to lobby Vancouver City Council. They said city council was “really supportive” of the SkyTrain extension, but emphasized lobbying the provincial government would be more difficult.
“The challenge is when we go to Victoria, making sure that we are sitting down with MLAs and presenting all of the arguments … [we are going to] do our hardest work there,” they said.
“The biggest risk is people go, ‘it's in the planning,’ and it's really going to be about emphasizing that we can't accept that it's still in the planning stage. We can't accept empty promises. We need tangible progress.”
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