Squamish’s Capilano University has moved to a new campus downtown.
Tucked on Winnipeg Street behind a Second Avenue sushi place downtown, the school is now in a more central location that the dean hopes will be convenient for current students and make the struggling institution more visible to potential learners.
“The main thing was we wanted to get a location that was central and that the students could engage in the community life a bit more,” said Christopher Bottrill, dean of the Squamish campus. “And then if people see it and find it a little bit more accessible, then maybe they will be more interested in participating in the programs.”
In June the university leased its former campus, located behind Howe Sound Secondary School, to French elementary school École Les Aiglons.
The Squamish university campus has had declining enrolment since the highway was upgraded for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, Bottrill, said.
“Continually our biggest challenge is just attracting people to the programs so we can sustain them,” he said. “So much has changed since the highway was opened and accessibility is so much easier to North Vancouver, and also there is a wider array of online offerings as well nowadays.”
The school is moving forward with two main programs at the new campus.
The school’s successful 10-month Advanced Wilderness Leadership program starts at the new campus next week and is already full, Bottrill said.
The six-course Business Administration Certificate will also be offered starting in September, depending on enrolment.
“Really it is up to the community if they want to participate in the programs and we want to be able to provide them, but we have to have the numbers in them to be able to run them,” Bottril said.
Capilano University still owns about five acres on the waterfront that was meant to be an education hub in the Oceanfront Lands development.
Bottrill said there currently aren’t any plans in the works for that property.
