University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a major public research university in British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1908. Its principal campus occupies the Point Grey peninsula on the western edge of the city of Vancouver.

The Point Grey campus covers over 400 hectares of headland and formal grounds with ocean-facing views, beaches and walking trails along the Pacific shoreline. Campus facilities open to visitors include museums, landscaped plazas and waterfront paths; the campus is also a gateway to nearby natural areas.

Established by provincial statute in 1908, the institution developed through the 20th century into British Columbia’s main research university with a large comprehensive campus at Point Grey. The campus expanded steadily through the postwar period and added major cultural facilities such as the Museum of Anthropology in the 1970s.

Point Grey sits on the western tip of Vancouver, on a peninsula that projects into the Strait of Georgia, roughly 10 km west of Vancouver’s downtown core.

• Founding date: Founded in 1908 as British Columbia's provincial university, with its main campus established on Point Grey in the early 20th century.
• Location and scale: The main campus sits on a headland about 10 km west of downtown Vancouver and includes shoreline access and beaches on the Pacific side.

What to See #

• Point Grey campus: The Point Grey campus occupies the headland west of central Vancouver and covers over 400 hectares; it contains academic buildings, residential colleges and extensive landscaped grounds facing the Strait of Georgia.
• Museum of Anthropology (MOA): The Museum of Anthropology on campus opened in 1976 and holds a large public collection of Indigenous and world ethnographic art, with notable Northwest Coast holdings and a distinctive modern building.