Gary Morrison, the appointed CEO for the Campus Communities project, clarified late last year that the housing planned to be constructed is not specifically designed with students in mind, but is rather oriented to the housing market by providing rentable spaces — like affordable suites — that appeal to a broader demographic of people.
“Our focus is on market housing now. It’s a very clear fit for both students, faculty, and homes where it’s not going to be dedicated or specifically allocated to them. What we’re hoping to do is, through design guidelines, require developers to include things like lock-off suites, which [people] would rent out.”
Morrison confirmed that the current plan of action is preparing the land, which is currently a parking lot. The planned development areas include University Village — Lots 4/5, Lot 2a, and Portion Building K Lot (33780 King Rd), equalling 6.1 acres of land, for a developer to begin construction of the habitational units. This means that UFV will not be officially handling the development of the housing and spaces that are being built. Morrison stated that, even though UFV is not handling that aspect of the development, they are hoping that developers will prioritize applications for housing from students and faculty.
“It’s difficult because we won’t be the ones that develop the units and rent ourselves. What we are trying to do is have those developers who actually build the projects [and] make them available to faculty, staff, students — try and give priority.”
Craig Toews briefly spoke about the Indigenous consultations that were conducted to get feedback on the project. He stated that they reached out to 19 different communities that have a good relationship with UFV, saying that the overall Indigenous consensus was that a positive effect of this development is the expansion of the university’s community.
“They were interested in seeing the plans, but had very little input or questions. They just were very happy to see the university grow.”
Despite that, Toews said that he didn’t hear back from about half of the consulted communities.
Dr. Cherie Enns, a UFV associate professor of Planning, Geography, and Environmental Studies, expressed that she was interested in the potential Campus Communities has for creating community on campus and encouraging alumni to connect. She also stated that finding a balance for both students and businesses looking to locate themselves near the habitable development is important to ensure both can coexist and nurture each other. They must also offer an experience that is valuable for the general market but one that remains centered around students.
“I’m not in any way critical of the vision. I think it’s interesting and we need to be creative and strategic. I’m hopeful that they can push, if that’s the right word, or look for ways to encourage developers to be more student centered in whatever it is they’re doing.”
She mentioned that through her own conversations with the development board, she learned of challenges when it comes to competing with student housing.
“The reason why they can’t do student housing is because of competition with on campus student housing. What they’re saying is that because we’re still a commuter-oriented campus, and given the downturn in international student numbers, the current housing on campus is not full. So it’s hard to make the case that off campus, student-oriented housing is needed at this time.”
Enns speculated that the proposed development is critical to generate income for the university.
“I’m not sure there’s any money without the development … It’s the process of developing the land that will generate revenue.”
The Cascade spoke to Enns’ PLAN 300: Planning for Housing class about the Campus Communities project. Further reinforcing the results from a UFV conducted survey, where 68 per cent of participants listed better parking as their number one priority, a student talked about their desire for UFV to commit to having at least the same amount of parking space available both before and after.
“They’re going to have [to be] committed to having at least as many parking spots as there were before, plus [space for] any residential additions that might be made as well. We can slowly integrate more and more public transit into our communities, and especially in Abbotsford — like [with] the shuttle bus from Chilliwack to Abbotsford — and then hopefully more city buses as well.”
Some students commented that there is a lack of amenities near campus that would encourage undergraduates to stay after class to connect with more of the UFV community. There was also dialogue around the potential this project has to bring more life to campus and draw in a greater variety of services that may help establish a genuine community on campus.
“You’d also need to incorporate services if you’re wanting people to move to the area and not rely on their cars. You’d need to have things like food stores, doctors offices, where you wouldn’t need to leave the campus at all.”
The interviews in this article were conducted in Fall 2025 by Darien Johnsen.
