Canada
University of Victoria
University of Victoria
Canada
Canada
Canada
The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.
It is a mid-to-large Canadian research university with strong environmental science, law, and Indigenous studies strengths, located in a coastal, nature-rich campus setting that emphasizes applied learning and sustainability.
Established in 1903 as Victoria College, the institution was initially an affiliated college of McGill University until 1915. From 1921 to 1963, it functioned as an affiliate of the University of British Columbia. In 1963, the institution was re-organized into an independent university.
The University of Victoria offers a range of graduate programs across multiple disciplines, including sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professional fields. Admission to many graduate programs is competitive and typically requires strong academic standing and supporting application materials.
The University of Victoria is the oldest post-secondary institution in British Columbia. First established in 1903 as Victoria College, an affiliated college of McGill University, it gained full autonomy and degree-granting status through a charter on July 1, 1963.
Between 1903 and 1915, Victoria College offered first- and second-year McGill courses in the arts and sciences. Administered locally by the Victoria School Board, the college was an adjunct to Victoria High School and shared its facilities. Both institutions were under the direction of a single Principal: E.B. Paul, 1903–1908; and S.J. Willis, 1908–1915.
In 1915, the opening of the University of British Columbia, established by Act of Legislature in 1908, obliged the college to suspend operations in higher education in Victoria. In 1920, as a result of local demands, Victoria College began the second stage of its development, reborn in affiliation with the University of British Columbia. Though still administered by the Victoria School Board, the college was now completely separate from Victoria High School, moving in 1921 into Craigdarroch Castle. Over the next two decades, under Principals E.B. Paul and P.H. Elliott, Victoria College provided courses in first- and second-year arts and sciences. It was also during this period that future author Pierre Berton edited and served as principal cartoonist for the student newsletter, The Microscope. Between 1921 and 1944, enrolment at Victoria College seldom exceeded 250. However, in 1945, 128 servicemen returning from World War II pushed enrolment up to 400, and 600 in 1946.
The final stage was between the years 1945 and 1963. It saw the transition from two-year college to university, under Principals J.M. Ewing and W.H. Hickman. During this period, the college was governed by the Victoria College Council, representative of the parent University of British Columbia, the Greater Victoria School Board, and the provincial Department of Education. In 1946, the college was forced by postwar enrolment to move from Craigdarroch to the Lansdowne campus of the Provincial Normal School, the current location of Camosun College's Lansdowne Campus. The Normal School joined Victoria College in 1956 as its Faculty of Education. Late in this transitional period (through the cooperation of the Department of National Defence and the Hudson's Bay Company) the 284-acre (1.1 km2)—now 385-acre (1.6 km2)—campus at Gordon Head was acquired. In 1961 the college, still in affiliation with UBC, awarded its first bachelor's degrees.
The campus is situated 6km north-east of downtown Victoria and is spread over 403 acres. UVic also has an offsite study centre at the Jeanne S. Simpson Field Studies Resource Center in Lake Cowichan. Despite its name, no part of the university's main campus is located in the City of Victoria proper, instead split between the municipalities of Saanich and Oak Bay. The campus is several hundred feet from the Pacific Ocean at Cadboro Bay. The six-hectare Queenswood campus was acquired from the Sisters of St. Ann and converted into a national laboratory. The Legacy Art Gallery on Yates Street and a proposed redevelopment on Broad Street make up the properties owned by the university in downtown Victoria.
The University of Victoria's campus was designed in part by American architectural firm Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons, which had previously completed major buildings at Stanford University and UC Berkeley. The principles and concept of the original design are still being followed, with the academic portions of the campus located inside the Ring Road, forming a perfect circle 600 m (1,969 ft) in diameter.
The following is a list of prominent buildings on the University of Victoria campus:
Bob Wright Centre – Home to the School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, the Department of Chemistry, and the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling & Analysis (CCCMA). Also features the Department of Astronomy dome and telescopes, lecture theatres, offices, meeting rooms, labs, and SciCafe dining outlet.
Business and Economics Building – Besides the obvious, the Business and Economics building also houses the offices of senior university administrators and contains a student computing facility.
Centre of Accessible Learning "CAL" – Facilitates academic accommodations for students with accessible needs and extra support with professors, as well as full serve note taking services which is fee based, and a Learning Assistance Program that helps navigate courses and assist with time management and planning for individual needs
Campus Security Services – Security Officers patrol and respond to Campus needs, provide first aid, and maintain a safe campus. The office also contains parking services, emergency planning, and lost & found.
Campus Services Building – Includes Career Services, the UVic Bookstore, the Computer Store, the Centre for Accessible Learning, and a Starbucks. Located near Campus bookstore and Bus loop.
CARSA Building – CARSA is the Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities on the UVic campus. It houses the UVic Vikes athletics and recreation programs, as well as offices, labs and a machine shop for CanAssist, which develops customized technologies, programs and services for people living with disabilities.
Below is a list of undergraduate faculties, departments, and schools within the University of Victoria system.
Education
Engineering and Computer Science
Fine Arts, which includes Art History & Visual Studies, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and writing.
Health, which includes Exercise Science, Physical & Health Education, Health Information Science, Medical Sciences, Nursing, Public Health & Social Policy, and Social Work
Science, which includes the departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Ocean Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, and Physics and Astronomy
Social Sciences, which includes Anthropology, Economics, Environmental Studies, Geography, Indigenous Governance, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration, and Sociology
UVic also offers a number of interdisciplinary undergraduate programs, including Applied Ethics, Arts of Canada, European Studies, Film Studies, Human Dimensions of Climate Change, Indigenous Studies, Latin American Studies, Social Justice Studies, and Technology and Society.
The Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, formerly the Faculty of Business, was renamed following a donation by local entrepreneur Peter B. Gustavson. The school, which is EQUIS and AACSB accredited, offers a wide range of programs, including BCom, MBA and other business degrees. The program starts with two years of general studies (with six required classes), followed by business-intensive 3rd and 4th years. Three co-op work terms are also required.
The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science admits approximately 400 students into first-year programs each year. Students can specialize in the following disciplines: Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Software Engineering.
The Faculty of Fine Arts splits into five different departments: Art History and Visual Studies, the School of Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Writing. UVic's Department of Art History and Visual Studies has a long tradition of scholarship in the areas of Islamic art, South and Southeast Asian art, and Native arts of North America. It is one of few schools that has traditionally held two chairs of Islamic art, most recently filled by Anthony Welch and Marcus Milwright. Esi Edugyan, two-time winner of the Giller Prize, is a graduate of the creative writing program
Admission to the University of Victoria is based on a selective academic system and is highly competitive. Each year, the university receives far more applications than there are spaces available, making it one of the most applied to institutions in Canada. Applicants are required to submit applications with their grade points average (GPA) and personal statements in order to be considered for admission. The university may also accept qualified applicants studying under IB programs, AP programs or other international distinctions. Given its endowment, the University of Victoria is able to offer scholarships and financial aid to a large number of students.
The University of Victoria has partnered with a number of research institutions to provide UVic students with the opportunity to gain research experience abroad. International conferences and study abroad opportunities are encouraged for all students, with many students completing a gap year before commencing their studies. Both UVic undergraduate and graduate students may travel abroad with UVic's many partner universities.
The University of Victoria has partnered with institutions around the world, including Sciences Po, University of London, University of Washington, Hong Kong University, Utrecht University, and the National University of Singapore.
The University of Victoria has been ranked in a number of post-secondary rankings. In the 2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities rankings, the university ranked 301–400 in the world and 13–17 in Canada. The 2025 QS World University Rankings ranked the university 349th in the world. The 2025 Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked the university 301–350 in the world, and 12–15 in Canada. In the 2022–23 U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking, the university ranked 327th in the world, and 13th in Canada. The Canadian-based Maclean's magazine ranked the University of Victoria second in their 2023 Canadian comprehensive university category.
Along with academic and research-based rankings, the university has also been ranked by publications that evaluate the employment prospects of its graduates. In the Times Higher Education's 2022 global employability ranking, the university ranked 181st in the world, and eighth in Canada.
In 2018, Research Infosource named the University of Victoria the 19th best research university, with a sponsored research income of $114,922 million, and an average research income of $170,000 per faculty member in 2017.
Several fraternities, sororities, and secret societies exist on the University of Victoria, despite the fact that the Students' Society does not recognize fraternities, sororities, or societies on the basis that they, by definition, seek to exclude portions of the membership. This issue was once a topic of debate in student politics at the University of Victoria in 2010.
Many years ago, University of Victoria students started a fraternity, two sororities and one non-exclusive, non-profit social-service club. Although the fraternities and sororities have no affiliation with the University of Victoria itself, they continue to thrive and have purchased nearby properties. The fraternities and sororities on campus are as follows:
The international fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon chartered the Beta Tau chapter in 2010, currently estimated at 150 members.
The international sorority Kappa Beta Gamma chartered a chapter in 2011, currently estimated at 100 members.
The local sorority, Alpha Chi Theta, was chartered in 2013 and is currently estimated at over 80 members.
The Omega chapter of Phrateres was installed in 1961.
CFUV is a long-standing campus radio station focusing on the campus and the surrounding community. CFUV serves Greater Victoria at 101.9, and via cable on 104.3, Vancouver Island and many areas in the Lower Mainland and northwestern Washington state.
The University of Victoria maintains several residence halls on campus, which were originally based on the Oxbridge Collegiate model of constituent colleges which serve as a smaller, more personal home environment to the students of the wider university. The university no longer operates these halls as individual colleges, but rather as halls of residences (as well as dormitories and apartments) as part of the Residence Life and Education department. Today, all halls of residence are equipped with Common Rooms and high-speed internet for students.
The oldest of these residence halls is Craigdarroch, which features large stone-clad buildings and ivy-covered walkways and courtyards. The modernist Lansdowne Halls feature six buildings connected by a series of bridges, walkways, and tunnels, including the popular 'UVic Underground'. Gordon Head and Ring Road Hall feature rooms and amenities for students, organized around a series of large courtyards.
In the centre of the Residence Village is the Cadboro Commons and a number of restaurants operated by the university, where students may eat and study. A mixture of dorms, single rooms, apartments, cluster studios, and family housing are available but decided by a lottery system. First-year students are guaranteed accommodation in one of the Residence Halls on campus.
The Victoria Vikes (more commonly known as Vikes Nation) represent the university in a number of competitive sports, including rowing, swimming, rugby, and basketball. The Vikes have especially long ties to competitive rowing having competed for several international titles. Sailing remains an important sport at the university and the UVic Sailing Club (UVSC) maintains training facilities and boats at the nearby Cadboro Bay.
Significant endowments, scholarships, and bursaries allow the university to recruit the best student-athletes, regardless of financial standing. UVic is a participating partner in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) (the western division of ) and in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Basketball games were traditionally played in the 2,500-seat, McKinnon Gymnasium which was built in 1975.
An athletics facility was completed in 2015, which provides considerably more space and facilities for athletics. The $77 million Centre for Athletes, Recreation, and Special Abilities (CARSA), opened its doors on May 4, 2015.
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