- About
- Executive Director's Office
- Blog
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
- Cultivating a community of care at SFU Surrey and beyond
- Celebrating 20 years of SFU in Surrey
- Bringing ArtsLIVE to SFU Surrey
- Sustainability in the heart of Surrey's city centre
- It’s all about CO-OPeration: My experience with SFU Co-op
- Renewing our commitment to reconciliation and decolonization
- Reconnect and recharge this summer
- Community on Campus: SFU Surrey's 20th Anniversary Recap
- 2021
- Supporting one another and raising awareness on sexual assault
- Why Bell Let's Talk Day matters to me
- International Women's Day: Celebrating the Strong Women in My Life
- The Glass Half Full: The Challenges of 2020 & The Promise of 2021
- Moving forward: Next steps for anti-racism dialogues at SFU Surrey
- Honouring the 215 lives lost
- Walking together towards inclusion
- Summer message from Steve Dooley
- Welcome back to campus!
- Honouring the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Introducing The Journey Here: a new podcast from SFU Surrey
- Holiday greetings, a look back on 2021 and hope for 2022
- 2020
- Let's talk about mental health and well-being
- Lift Each Other Up on Pink Shirt Day
- 2020 Homeless Count in Surrey
- Surrey campus vibe is alive-and-strong during COVID-19
- It’s Long Overdue - Moving The Dial on Racism & Discrimination
- Thank You President Petter for 10 Amazing Years
- Welcoming Joy Johnson, SFU's 10th President
- Get to know Steve Dooley, Executive Director of SFU's Surrey Campus
- In case you missed it: Fall 2020 Campus-wide meeting
- The fight against COVID-19: Surrey researchers at their best!
- Season's greetings from Steve Dooley
- 2019
- Community Perspectives on Living with HIV and where we go From Here
- Celebrating International Women’s Day at SFU’s Surrey Campus
- OppFest at the Surrey campus
- New campus building expands SFU Surrey campus
- Pink Shirt Day
- Power of Partnerships: Surrey Schools
- Welcome to Fall 2019
- SFU Surrey and Orange Shirt Day
- World Mental Health Week
- Health-related research and innovation is thriving in Surrey
- SFU Surrey students changing the world in 2019
- Podcast: The Journey Here
- Season 1
- Ep. 1 | Joy Johnson: Leading with Compassion and Care
- Ep. 2 | Kue K'nyawmupoe: Connecting and Serving Communities
- Ep. 3 | Doug Tennant: Empowering Leaders with Diverse Abilities
- Ep. 4 | Kathleen Burke: Igniting Community Leaders
- Ep. 5 | Rochelle Prasad: Sparking the Leaders of Tomorrow
- Ep. 6 | Bailey Mumford: An Advocate for Housing and Belonging
- Ep. 7 | Matt Hern: Supporting Community Development through Worker Co-operatives
- Ep. 8 | Joanne Curry: Engaging Our Campus and Community
- Ep. 9 | Michael Heeney: Building Surrey's City Centre
- Season 1
- Blog
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- Campus Services
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Our Story
First established in 2002, SFU’s Surrey Campus has grown to become an integral part of Surrey’s city centre. Learn more about the rich history of our campus.
2002
SFU establishes temporary campus in Surrey's Central City Mall, in space formerly occupied by TechBC, with more than 230 new first-year students joining 282 existing former Tech BC undergrads and 53 grad students, studying for degrees in information technology and interactive arts. The space, which once was Zellers Department Store, comprised of open access classrooms, study and research spaces.
2006
SFU moved from its temporary campus space to its permament space in Surrey's Central City complex, designed by architect Bing Thom. The space occupied 200,373 square feet in its initial mezzanine, galleria, podium, and tower levels, uniquely integrated the campus with the mall complex.
2008
Our facility expands with the addition of two more floors on the Galleria, bringing the campus size to 322,671 square feet in Surrey's Central City complex. New programs include Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Criminology, World Literature, Life Sciences and Professional Development Programs for teachers.
2008
Former SFU Surrey executive director Joanne Curry in 2008 at the Surrey launch of SFU’s flagship startup incubator program, Venture Connection (now the Incubator program within the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship), the longest running entrepreneurship initiative at SFU.
2011
SFU Surrey begins its campus expansion with Podium 2. The $10 million, 54,000 square foot renovated space at the base of Central City tower houses science labs, research and teaching spaces. Podium 2 has LEED Silver designation.
2013
In 2013, the SFU Surrey-TD Community Engagement Centre (SFU CEC) launches. The centre fosters engagement between SFU and the ethnically diverse and growing South Fraser community through programs in partnership with community groups.
Learn More about the SFU Surrey-TD Community Engagement Centre
2013
In December 2013, the eBrain Lab at Surrey Memorial Hospital opens. The NeuroTech Lab is a venue for SFU researchers to collaborate with technology experts and hospital clinicians to advance research in the areas of brain injury, concussion measurement, surgical simulation, rehabilitative devices and spinal cord injury prevention.
2015
Community Leaders Igniting Change (CLIC) was initiated under the direction of the Surrey Poverty Reduction Coalition. After a pilot offering, CLIC has been funded through the financial support of Envision Financial and remains in partnership with the Surrey Poverty Reduction Coalition. Taught by Dr. Kathleen Burke (SFU Beedie School of Business), CLIC is a 12-week, grass-roots program which builds upon participants’ existing skills and knowledge to foster problem solving to local issues to promote social well-being and belonging. To date, over 100 participants have completed the CLIC program.
2016
In 2016, the federal and provincial governments announce $90 million in funding towards a $126 million building for the SFU Surrey campus, across from its main building. The building will house the new Sustainable Energy Engineering program, teaching and research labs, and state-of-the art theatres and activity space that will be shared with the community.
SFU’s expansion will also help meet the increasing demand for accessible post-secondary education south of the Fraser.
2017
A $1 million gift from Coast Capital Savings was given to help further the success of the Venture Connection program (now the Incubator program within the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship), advancing innovation across SFU.
2018
On September 18, 2018, the SFU ImageTech Lab, a world-class clinical research facility, opens its doors. The ImageTech Lab is the first-of-its-kind in Western Canada and will be a cornerstone in Surrey’s Health Technology District. It provides the critical combination of high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) together with high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG)—uniquely embedded within Surrey Memorial Hospital—an emerging academic health sciences centre.
2019
SFU unveils the first phase of its $126 million, 221,000 square foot, 5-floor campus expansion. Located near the original campus building, the building houses the new Sustainable Energy Engineering program, the first of its kind in western Canada.
2019
SFU received $17 million to establish a Quantum Algorithms Institute to be based at the Surrey campus. The institute will be one of the first facilities of its kind that focuses on building quantum computing software and algorithms.
2020
COVID-19 impacted our SFU community, which required us to pivot to the online learning and working environment. Despite the fact that we were apart, the Surrey community remained busy and active, including many community-oriented projects.
2021
As part of the Student Experience Initiative, many of the open study spaces on campus received an upgrade, including new furniture and cubicles.
2022
SFU Surrey, the heart of innovation in the community, celebrated an incredible milestone - its 20th Anniversary, marking two decades of groundbreaking progress.
2022
The provincial government announced $4.9 million in start-up funding for a new medical school on SFU's Surrey Campus, the first new medical school to be built in western Canada in more than 50 years. The school is aiming to start its charter class in fall 2026, and students will attend classes at the Surrey campus and other interim spaces before a new building is built. Residency programs are anticipated to start in 2028.