UNBC Entrance

By Cheryl Jahn

UNBC Trust

Support for proposed UNBC development not unanimous

Apr 1, 2026 | 3:49 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It was a plan that was wholeheartedly supported around City Council Chambers recently. UNBC presented the idea to develop a portion of land across from the main campus currently held in trust. But support in some circles is not nearly as unanimous.

“You’re talking about an increase in concrete heat, islands, things like that. And you are talking about removing accessible green space from a community area,” says Dr. Annie Booth with Ginters Green Forever. “It always amazes me that there are communities across Canada in the US who would die for the kind of wildlife, habitat, greenspace, hiking trails that Prince George has.”

There are 47 acres in that trust, thirty-five of which UNBC has plans for. Specifically it’s looking at phased,

mixed-use development with 1,800 residential units supporting a mixed-income community of approximately 4,000 people. And that is a dream for the city’s mayor and this would be considered an in-fill development.

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“If you consider the Cranbrook Hill on one side, the city and College Heights on the other and Foothills on the other two sides, this can be looked at as a infill; in between some of the major developments in town,” says Mayor Simon Yu.

Mayor Yu says everything he heard so far about the plans speaks to preserving green space.

“If you look at 35 acres and mixed density with a few high rises, a few mid-rises, I would safely say the majority of the trees would be safe.”

But another area of concern for the Ginters Green folks is the lack of consultation before the fact … the presentation to Council virtually came out of the blue.

“Some years back, they did present a plan, to do something sort of similar,” explains Dr. Booth. “And it wasn’t well received. They got a lot of blowback by faculty, by students, by a lot of people. And so this time they seem to have decided that the way to deal with potential blowback is to do an end run.”

So is Ginters Green Forever opposed development entirely?

“We are not anti-development,” says Dr. Booth. “We are anti-development in lousy places. And so, people like Ginters Green Forever or people who have organized around green space protection have pointed out green field development is really not the way to go. For developers, it’s certainly easier.”

But UNBC still has to get a portion of that proposed land out of what’s called a reverter clause, which means the province has a say in the use of the land.