First Peoples’ Gathering House to be built at SFU’s Burnaby campus

Contact: Tiffany Akins, University Communications and Marketing, 605.874.9393, tiffany_akins@sfu.ca

Indigenous students at Simon Fraser University can look forward to having a ceremonial space to celebrate Indigenous knowledge and culture when the First Peoples’ Gathering House opens in 2023.

The project, announced today, provides a culturally appropriate Indigenous gathering space and is jointly funded by the provincial government ($6.4 million) and SFU ($8.6 million) for a projected total cost of $15 million.

SFU’s enrollment figures for 2019-20 show a total of 781 Indigenous students, including 559 undergraduates and 222 graduate students.

The First Peoples’ Gathering House will include a large ceremonial hall for hosting special events of up to 300 attendees. The new space will also include a dressing room, an Elders room, a classroom, a wellness room, and a multi-generational Indigenous peoples’ lounge as well as a food service kitchen.

For more information please see the SFU News story and the B.C. Government news release.