Thank you to the BC Federation of Labour for their letter to the Prime Minister and BC Premier, supporting our efforts to extend the SkyTrain to UBC.
September 23, 2025
The Right Honourable Mark Carney, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada –
and-
The Honourable David Eby, K.C. Premier of British Columbia Dear Prime Minister and Premier:
Re: SkyTrain Millennium Line extension to UBC, Vancouver
We am writing on behalf of the BC Federation of Labour (BCFED) to endorse the Alma Mater Society (AMS) of UBC Vancouver’s petition calling for the provincial and federal governments to prioritize the release of the business case, timeline and combined funding agreement for the SkyTrain to UBC. We represent over half a million workers in every part of BC’s economy, and for many of them, the lack of adequate, accessible and reliable transit is a critical issue affecting affordability, job and education opportunities and even where they can live and raise a family.
In our Connecting BC plan, we outline a vision for a public transit system that serves working people and improves access to affordable public transit. Part of that vision is ensuring access to transit for everyone in Metro Vancouver, where we call for the acceleration of TransLink’s ten-year plan, including ensuring that UBC has sufficient rapid transit infrastructure.
UBC is the third-largest employer in BC, with over 61,000 UBC community members currently commuting from across the Lower Mainland. The UBC SkyTrain is essential transit infrastructure for meeting ridership demands and reducing congestion on existing bus lines. Over the 17 years that UBC’s students, staff and faculty have been waiting for the SkyTrain extension, the Broadway corridor has become the busiest bus corridor in the US and Canada, and the UBC Bus Loop has become Metro Vancouver’s busiest transit hub to lack rapid transit. Multiple studies have confirmed that only the UBC SkyTrain Extension would have the capacity to meet current and anticipated ridership demands along the corridor. Prime Minister Carney and Premier Eby SkyTrain Millennium Line Extension to UBC, Vancouver September 23, 2025 Page 2 of 2
The UBC SkyTrain Extension would reduce commute times by half an hour, ensuring that students and workers as far as Surrey, Coquitlam and New Westminster can make it to campus in under one hour. It would help reduce vehicle congestion and commute times for all travellers, reducing the emissions and traffic on Metro Vancouver’s road system. Despite the clear benefits, the proposed extension has seen no progress since the BC Provincial Government first took charge of the project in 2008.
In solidarity with the AMS’s petition and rally, the BCFED calls for:
For students across the province, public transit will always remain an essential service that must receive adequate funding, support and attention. We urge both levels of government to listen to the students of UBC and prioritize this vital transit project.
Yours sincerely,
Sussanne Skidmore
President
Hermender Singh Kailley
Secretary-Treasurer
Back to news