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Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a public research university located in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The university's name comes from the two rivers which converge in Kamloops, the North Thompson and South Thompson. TRU describes itself as a dual-sector research university which offers a dual-sector education.

The university has five academic faculties, the smallest being the Faculty of Law and the largest being the Faculty of Science, as well as three schools: the Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, the School of Nursing, and the School of Trades and Technology. In addition to its primary campus in Kamloops, the university has a satellite campus in Williams Lake and a distance education division, TRU-Open Learning. In 2026, TRU administration began discussions with the community of Williams Lake to review operations there.

TRU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities at the associate, baccalaureate and master's degree levels. In 2023, TRU was named one of Canada's Top 50 Research Universities, and as of 2025 is one of the sixteen universities worldwide to hold a "Platinum" rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

History

Founding and early development

In 1970, the Government of British Columbia selected Kamloops as the site for one of several new two-year regional colleges intended to provide post-secondary education outside the major urban centers of Vancouver and Victoria. Cariboo College began operations in September 1970, accommodating 367 full-time and 200 part-time students in facilities at the Kamloops Indian Residential School during its inaugural year.

The college offered two-year academic programs that allowed students to transfer to the University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University (SFU), and the University of Victoria (UVic). Simultaneously, the college developed vocational training programs to address the needs of regional industries including forestry and mining. The vocational division, now known as the School of Trades and Technology, was established after the college relocated to its newly constructed campus on McGill Road in September 1971. Premier W.A.C. Bennett officially inaugurated the vocational wing in May 1972. Following provincial mandate, Cariboo merged with the Kamloops Vocational School in 1974 to provide comprehensive training for in-demand occupations in the Kamloops region.

In 1978, Cariboo College received official designation as a college with corporate status under the British Columbia Colleges and Provincial Institutes Act, gaining an independent board separate from the previously governing school boards. The same legislation created the Open Learning Institute (OLI), which would later evolve into TRU Open Learning, to deliver academic and vocational training by distance throughout the province to people unable to access traditional post-secondary education due to geographic isolation or other limitations. The following year, the Universities Act empowered OLI to grant baccalaureate degrees in arts or science under its own authority.

Throughout its first two decades, the college experienced significant growth. The faculty increased from 30 members serving 567 students in 1970 to 383 employees (259 full-time and 124 part-time) serving 5,252 students (3,047 full-time and 2,205 part-time). To accommodate this expansion, Cariboo College constructed more than a dozen new facilities, developed an on-campus student housing complex, and renovated existing buildings. In 1971, the college established a satellite campus in Williams Lake, British Columbia, 285 kilometers north of Kamloops, offering educational programs to surrounding communities, including remote Indigenous populations. In 1985, the Williams Lake campus relocated to a 55,000 square-foot facility on Hodgeson Road, which would later close due to seismic safety concerns.

Governance

Governance at TRU follows a tripartite structure established by provincial legislation in the University Act and the Thompson Rivers University Act:

• Board of Governors: Responsible for budgetary, operational, and administrative matters
• Senate: Makes decisions on academic matters including curriculum, credentials, admissions, and educational policies
• Planning Council for Open Learning: Oversees academic matters relating to the Open Learning Division

The University Act also defines the leadership structure of the university, including the powers, duties, and offices of the president. The president holds the positions of vice-chancellor, board member, and senate chair while serving as the chief executive officer responsible for supervising administrative and academic operations. The president's executive team includes:

• Provost and Vice-president Academic
• Vice-president Administration and Finance
• Vice-president University Relations
• Vice-president International
• Vice-president Research
• Associate Vice-president Marketing and Communications
• Executive Director Indigenous Education

As of 2026, the president is the singularly named Airini.

Academics

TRU offers approximately 140 on-campus programs and 60 distance or online programs through its Open Learning Division, organized within the following faculties and schools:

• Faculty of Adventure, Culinary Arts and Tourism
• Faculty of Arts
• Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics
• Faculty of Education and Social Work
• Faculty of Law
• School of Nursing
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Student Development
• School of Trades and Technology

The university also operates two specialized divisions:

Open Learning: Providing distance, online, and blended learning options across all faculties and schools

TRU World: Serving international and study abroad students

Campuses

TRU's 250-acre main campus in Kamloops is situated on McGill Road in the city's southwest Sahali area, overlooking the junction of the North and South Thompson rivers from which the university takes its name. Located above the West End, the campus has 40 acres of gardens and the largest arboretum in BC's Interior. Residences provide on-campus housing for 1,472 students. Kamloops, a city of about 100,000 people, is located in the semi-arid grasslands of the Thompson-Nicola region of British Columbia's southwestern Interior, on the traditional lands of the Secwépemc (Shuswap) people. TRU has a satellite campus in Williams Lake in BC's Cariboo-Chilcotin region, and regional centres in 100 Mile House, Clearwater, Barriere, Ashcroft and Lillooet.

Kamloops

After one year operating out of the school district's various facilities, such as the Kamloops Indian Residential School property, Cariboo College moved to the current campus on McGill Road in September 1971, sharing the newly constructed Main building with the Kamloops Vocational School. Much of the campus had been part of a Canadian Navy munitions base and several of the officers' quarters were put to use and remain as heritage buildings on today's campus.

Construction was a constant on Cariboo College's campus to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding student body. The Library and Gymnasium opened in fall of 1976. The Science building was completed in 1980 and the Visual Arts building opened the following year. Construction began on student residences in 1988 and Hillside Stadium opened. The next year saw the completion of the Clock Tower building and Alumni Theatre, and the addition of a second storey on the Main building's B block for classroom and bookstore space.

As part of Cariboo's application to become a university college in 1989, the first campus plan was developed with the requirement that every building have an official name. Without a single faculty or function to identify it, the 18-year-old Main or Main block building, as the oldest and most central building on campus, officially became Old Main when Cariboo College became the University College of the Cariboo.

Construction in the 1990s continued as the influx of undergraduate students kept growing. UCC doubled the size of the Library and Science buildings and opened the Computer Access Centre downtown on Victoria Street in 1991. The Arts and Education (A&E) building was built in two phases from 1991 to 1993. Beside A&E, the 53,000-square-foot Campus Activity Centre, which includes the campus bookstore, a cafeteria, pub, retail spaces, meeting rooms and the student union office and coffee shop, opened in 1993 thanks to a cost-recovery-based joint proposal between UCC and the student society. This was able to happen after a change in legislation in 1990 allowed the college to borrow money privately for development.

Alumni

• Patrick Blennerhassett, journalist and author
• Corryn Brown, curler
• Kamar Burke, basketball player
• Craig Coolahan, politician
• Andrew G. Cooper, theatre creator, filmmaker and producer
• Alan Corbishley, baritone singer, stage director
• Jim Cotter (curler)
• Dr. Bruce Damer, astrobiologist, designer and author
• Bradley Gunter, volleyball player
• Steven Galloway, novelist
• Dezaray Hawes, curler
• Daniel Hayes, actor, model, and boxer
• Catalina Ontaneda, former Ecuadorian Minister for Sport
• John Gordon Perrin, volleyball player
• Lynda Price, chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)