Imagine a future for UFV that includes liveable communities nestled beside the Abbotsford and Chilliwack campuses: developments that would enliven the campus environment and help the university by funding institutional priorities.
That's the long-term goal of the UFV Properties Trust, also known as Campus Communities: to develop land on our campuses in order to generate revenue for its beneficiaries, including the university.
This is a well-established model. Property trusts have been implemented successfully in British Columbia at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Thompson Rivers University.
The UFV Board has been looking for creative ways of generating sustainable revenue sources for several years.
In 2023, the UFV Properties Trust was launched to develop underutilized land on UFV campuses. The land will always be owned by UFV, and the Properties Trust would arrange 99-year ground leases with development companies, which would then develop the land and lease it to customers.
UFV has had underutilized land since acquiring the property where the Chilliwack campus at Canada Education Park was developed (a former Canadian Armed Forces base) in the early 2000s. It was part of the original vision to use some of the land to generate revenue for the university, but as part of the original deal of acquiring the land there was a 10-year moratorium before development opportunities could be considered.
In more recent years, UFV has identified land on the Abbotsford campus that could be developed as a revenue source while also enhancing the surrounding community. It would involve building on existing parking lots, but before any construction starts, new parking will be developed on the south end of campus to avoid any loss of parking spaces.
Jackie Hogan, UFV Vice President Administration, has been keenly involved in the planning and development of UFV's Properties Trust, and while she's retiring from her position in March 2026, she will continue to monitor the progress.
"We see this as a way of generating benefits that would be invested in strategic priorities such as academic capital infrastructure, research funding, and endowments for scholarships and bursaries, while at the same time bringing more of a sense of community to our campuses," Jackie explains. "Developing market housing on our Abbotsford campus dovetails nicely with the U-District project and would help to make it more of a community, as opposed to a commuter campus in the middle of industrial land."
The U-District is a collaboration with the City of Abbotsford that encourages the creation of a liveable community surrounding the Abbotsford campus. Over the past decade, there has been a transformation of land surrounding the campus into mixed residential/retail properties as a result of this planning initiative. Developing land on the north end of the Abbotsford campus, adjacent to King Road, would complement the U-District vision.
Jackie is quick to point out that UFV is not in the development or construction business and does not intend to be. The goal, through the arm's-length Properties Trust, is to shepherd university-owned land to the point where it is ready for development and then enter ground lease agreements with developers.
"The Properties Trust would be involved at the beginning in planning and risk mitigation, and that's the stage we are at now," Jackie notes. "That means the trust, under the leadership of CEO Gary Morrison, does the legwork to make the land ready for development and get the zoning in place. That would result in a valuation "land lift," with the land being more valuable because the hurdles are out of the way. Developers are willing to pay more for pre-zoned land because of the ease of build."
UFV engaged with the provincial government and Indigenous partners prior to the launch of the Trust, and the Trust is working with local governments to ensure all details are addressed. The Abbotsford campus master plan was developed 10 years ago in conjunction with the City's U-District plan and envisioned the blurring of campus and community based on extensive feedback. The Chilliwack campus master plan was updated in 2024 to reflect the allocation of land for development. The provincial government gave approval in 2023, at which time a board was appointed, and CEO Gary Morrison was hired.
Jackie explains that the goal of opening up university land for development through a property trust is to create long-term benefits for UFV while shielding UFV from the risks of development. The revenue generated will be distributed to the Property Trust's beneficiaries (UFV and the UFV Foundation). UFV anticipates that any funds it receives would not go directly to general operating funds, but rather would fund capital projects, research and programming initiatives, and scholarships that are not covered by regular government funding.
"There are not a lot of opportunities for us to generate the kind of investment funding that we want, to build out our campuses," Jackie notes. "So, we asked ourselves, what can we leverage to meet our capital goals and academic plans? What we have is land, and it comes with the added benefit of building community near campus. We are trying to be proactive, instead of just waiting for government funding to come our way."
While the development of UFV-owned land on its campuses would benefit the university financially as a beneficiary, Jackie notes it would also help to create a more vibrant community on campus and bring amenities that might include food and beverage establishments, and other commercial services.
Campus Communities carried out detailed community consultations through focus groups, open houses, surveys, meetings, and email exchanges with interested parties in May, August, and September last year.
Concerns and questions that were highlighted in those consultations included parking, transportation, green spaces, walkability, tree retention/replacement, human scale development guidelines, consultation with Indigenous groups, and the financial model of the Properties Trust.
The first phase of the Campus Communities project would focus on developing two parcels on the Abbotsford campus, comprised of current Parking Lots 4 and 5 at the north end of campus adjacent to King Road (which would be replaced by new parking lots at the south end of campus in 2026 before any Property Trust construction begins).
The third part of the Abbotsford campus that would be redeveloped is Lot 2A, adjacent to the Rogers Forum (the new name for the Abbotsford Centre). This part may include a multi-level parkade.
On the Chilliwack campus, development would focus on the Vedder Road corridor at the east end of campus. There would be residential development of this parcel, and then a "creative collision zone" with space for potential research partnerships with industry closer to the campus core.
The Chilliwack campus will also be the focus of future growth in university buildings for UFV, as the Abbotsford campus approaches capacity in room to build and there is space to expand in Chilliwack.
"Chilliwack will be our long-term growth campus," Jackie notes. "We have known that and had plans for that since we made the decision to cross town, leave our former Chilliwack North campus, and acquired the Canada Education Park land in the early 2000s."
The focus of the first new academic building on the Chilliwack campus would be a home for science, agriculture, and research activity under a One Health umbrella.
Jackie acknowledges that the residential real estate market is not booming at the moment, but notes that UFV hopes to time development to align with peaks rather than valleys in the market, adding that banks are much more open to financing lease-based projects now than they used to be, thanks in part to local First Nations leading the way in leasehold projects.
As she contemplates the future, knowing that she's helping to start a vision that will continue long after she retires, Jackie shares a few thoughts to describe how it feels.
"It's very exciting! We would finally be fully realizing the potential of the Abbotsford U-District plan envisioned back in 2016, and also kickstarting the vision outlined in the original Canada Education Park plan for our Chilliwack campus," she notes. "However, there is a sense of apprehension as well. Significant shifts and obstacles are inevitable, and there will be challenges along the way."
Check out the What We Heard section on the Campus Communities website to see community feedback from information sessions held in 2025.
TIMELINE
Abbotsford campus
- 2026: Complete rezoning process
- 2026: Complete new parking lot at south end of campus
- 2028: Start first phase of development
Chilliwack campus
- 2027: Complete rezoning process
For more information
33844 King Road
Abbotsford British Columbia
Canada V2S 7M8
www.ufv.ca/
