UBC Okanagan in the community
In June 2020, UBC President Santa Ono announced the next major step in the evolution of UBC's presence in the Okanagan and in its ability to serve the needs of the BC Interior region.
In partnership with UBC Properties Trust, UBC is planning a new building at 550 Doyle Avenue. Once design and approvals are in place, construction is expected to begin in mid 2022.
An expanded downtown Kelowna presence will support both UBC's and the City of Kelowna's strategic priorities, including UBC Okanagan's Outlook 2040 vision for the next 20 years.
Serving the needs of our region
The provincial government and UBC designed the Okanagan campus to adapt and grow to serve future regional needs. This has allowed UBCO to be responsive to community demand, introducing new programming such as the Bachelor of Media Studies, a redesigned Bachelor of Education, and a Master of Data Science degree and, with the Vancouver campus, a new program in manufacturing engineering. The campus has also introduced a campus-wide co-op program, and expanded access programs for Indigenous students.
In research, strong community partnerships, combined with globally connected researchers and scholars, and a high value placed on collaboration, have resulted in emerging strengths in the areas of:
- Healthy people: rural and remote health, chronic disease prevention, healthy living and aging
- Emergent technologies: materials and manufacturing, sustainable infrastructure, biomedical engineering
- Resilient environments: sustainability, ecosystem management, restorative and high-value agriculture
- Thriving communities: arts and creativity, indigeneity, social innovation, community resilience and economic development
Connecting with communities
As a campus that emerged from community demand, UBCO's faculty, staff and students have consistently worked with the region through initiatives such as the Southern Medical Program, a Memoranda of Understanding with the Okanagan Nation Alliance and the City of Kelowna, Accelerate Okanagan, the wine sector throughout the Interior, the Healthy Cities initiative, Opera Kelowna, the Rotary Centre for the Arts, and countless co-op placements and research projects.
UBC Okanagan's long-term vision includes more direct partnership with the communities of our region. To support that ambition and accommodate significant growth in programs and enrolment, we're adding space over the next decade.
The new Commons building (68,000 sq. ft.) opened on campus in early 2019, and the downtown building is an important next step, although much more is needed.
UBCO's capital plan envisions 460,000 sq. ft. of new academic space over the next decade, alongside additional student housing developments such as the new Skeena student residence (220 beds) and Nechako student commons and residence (220 beds) to be completed in 2021.