UBC Housing Venture Will Cost $560M, Well Above Previous Housing Projects
(Image courtesy of CBC)
In the 2025 Budget, the BC government lists a project that will be priced at $560 million to construct a new student housing complex with five buildings, a dining hall, and childcare facilities. The housing complex will have around 1,500 beds, and the province will pay $300 million, while the UBC TREK endowment will provide the remaining $260 million. This will cost over $350,000 per bed, a breathtaking amount.
New UBC Housing Figures Exceed Previous Projects
With its hefty price tag, this project is another example of big spending by the provincial government in the name of infrastructure. However, compared to previous UBC housing projects, this one is tremendously more expensive. For instance, the Tallwood House of the Brock Commons Student Residence was built in 2016 for $51.5 million, costing $127,475 to build one student bedroom. Orchard Commons, another student residence, was also built in 2016 at $120,134 per student bed. These numbers were in line with the average cost to build a student bed, as from 2010 to 2022, UBC built 5,550 student beds for a financial total of $670 million, or $120,720 per bed.
But in recent years, the BC government has been more nonchalant with its budget. This current project will cost taxpayers a whopping $373,333 per student bed, a dramatic increase. Even if we take out the contribution from the TREK endowment, it still amounts to a cost of roughly $200,000 per bed. This appears to be a trend, as a recent expansion of the Brock Commons student residence totaled $165 million with a per-bed cost of $275,920.
New Housing Expenditure Leaves Questions of Fiscal Carelessness
It is increasingly becoming apparent that the BC government is uninterested in the actual cost of the project from an economic perspective, but rather as a way to tout that it is “investing” in British Columbians. While making “large” investments may play well with certain segments of the voting population, many UBC students still feel the university lacks housing. With rising deficits and a downgraded credit rating, one has to hope that BC becomes fiscally responsible sometime soon.
