On August 20, UBC announced its partnership with the provincial government to create more than 1,500 student beds on the Vancouver campus.
The project will cost approximately $560 million, with $300 million coming from the provincial government. This is the most significant contribution the provincial government has made to a single building project in the university’s history.
Construction is planned to begin in fall 2026 and finish in fall 2029.
The historic $300 million dollar investment comes from the Homes for People action plan, where the provincial government has committed more than $2 billion to develop student beds throughout BC.
Associate VP Student Housing and Community Services Andrew Parr said this project sits within the broader picture of UBC’s Campus Vision Plan 2050 and Housing Action Plan, where the university is committed to delivering 3,300 new student beds for the Vancouver campus.
Despite being the largest provider of student housing in Canada, demand for housing at UBC continues to outpace supply in the face of increasing affordability concerns.
“The biggest issue is the financial realities,” Parr said regarding the university’s ability to provide housing at a rate that meets student demand. With the costs of maintaining these student housing units increasing every year and the university striving to provide below-market housing, the economic aspect has been one of the major challenges in combating the housing crisis, said Parr.
“It's really an economic issue of the capital cost upfront and then the operating costs going forward, coupled with the revenue that we can generate,” Parr said.
Construction will include five new residence buildings on Lower Mall. The units will be a mix of independent studios, four-bedroom shared units and two–three-bedroom units, with a focus on housing graduate students.
Parr said that over the past decade, construction of new student housing has largely focused on undergraduate students, and this imbalance has caused a large vocal cohort of graduate students to question the university's commitment to creating a sustainable housing environment for them.
“We've put huge investments into first-year and upper-year housing, and this is just the next stage of that process,” Parr said. The new residence buildings will be located where St. John’s College is, a community for graduate students.
The new project also includes the construction of 37 childcare spaces and a 400-seat dining hall. The building of these new childcare spaces is aimed at recruiting and retaining graduate students to enhance their experience at UBC.
Parr said the creation of the new dining hall serves not only the new housing units, but also strengthens the existing community at Marine Drive and Ponderosa Commons.
“It's a project that I think brings benefit to the whole campus.”
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