University of British Columbia

Located in Vancouver’s Point Grey neighbourhood, the University of British Columbia (UBC) is one of Canada’s largest and most prestigious universities.

It has close to 55,000 students. It’s also home to several of Vancouver’s best museums, parks and places of interest.

This article includes the following information about UBC:

Festivals and Events at UBC | UBC’s Best Places to Visit | Nitobe Garden Video | UBC Campuses | Other Information

University of British Columbia

The university is located at the western end of the Point Grey Peninsula. It’s about a 30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.

The University of British Columbia is like its own city. The amazing campus offers visitors much more than just post-secondary classes. On the property are museums, beautiful gardens, performing arts theatres and some of Metro Vancouver’s finest parkland.

Botanical Garden at UBC in Fall — UBC Botanical Garden in the Fall

Festivals and Events at UBC

In addition to performances at the Chan Centre and regular student-focused events – which happen all the time – a number of festivals and events also take place at UBC. These include the UBC Apple Festival which is a fundraising apple-themed event at the UBC Botanical Garden on the second weekend in October.

The Scotiabank Half Marathon starts at UBC. It goes all the way from the university campus to Stanley Park. There are also events at Wesbrook Village that includes festivities at Chinese New Year.

UBC During Climate Strike — Outside the UBC Student Union Building

UBC’s Best Places to Visit

Some of the highlights of what you can find at and around the University of British Columbia include the following:

Beaty Biodiversity Museum is a small biological museum. It has more than 500 exhibits which include a blue whale’s skeleton that’s over 85 feet long!
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts has a 1200 seat concert hall, a cinema and a theatre. The facilities host performances from world-renowned artists and also allows UBC’s Department of Theatre and Film and School of Music to rehearse there.
Greenheart TreeWalk is a network of bridges up in the trees at the UBC Botanical Garden.
The Museum of Anthropology is located right on campus. It has an exceptional collection featuring First Nation aboriginal art and culture.
Nitobe Memorial Garden is a beautiful Japanese garden that’s run by the UBC Botanical Garden.
Pacific Spirit Regional Park is located in the UBC Endowment Lands. It is easily one of Metro Vancouver’s finest parks with over 70 km of forested walking and hiking trails. Inside the park is Camosun Bog, with its own great places to explore, and Wreck Beach – Vancouver’s world-famous clothing-optional beach (conveniently located not far from campus).

UBC's Thunderbird Stadium — Thunderbird Stadium

Thunderbird Stadium is the university’s stadium where sports like soccer, football and rugby are played.
UBC Botanical Garden is a large garden featuring thousands of both domestic and exotic plants.
Wreck Beach is a world-famous beach located at the edge of UBC. It’s famous because it’s beautiful, but even more so because it’s a “clothing optional” beach.

Nitobe Garden Video

There are lots of beautiful and interesting places to visit at UBC. One of them is the Nitobe Memorial Garden. Watch the short video below if you’d like a glimpse into the garden.

The video was taken in the spring of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, near the start of the cherry blossom season. In the video you’ll see some of the early blossoms. The garden is exceptionally beautiful that time of year.

UBC Campuses

The UBC campus at Point Grey is one of the biggest in the entire country at over 4 square km! There are numerous busses that service the campus so even if you don’t have a car it’s not difficult to reach. The Point Grey campus is famous for its beauty as it’s surrounded by Pacific Spirit Regional Park as well as the Strait of Georgia.

Somewhat lesser known is that there is a UBC facility right in the heart of downtown Vancouver. UBC Robson Square is located at Robson Square next to the Vancouver Art Gallery. This much smaller campus is connected to Point Grey and holds a large number of classes, mainly for the Sauder School of Business and Peter A. Allard School of Law. UBC Robson Square also offers night and weekend classes for part-time students.