Left to right: Andrew Petter, SFU President, Katrina Chen, MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed, Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills & Training, Chris Lewis, Chair, SFU Board of Governors, Ron Johnston, Interim Director, SFU Office for Aboriginal Peoples Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn, Founding Chair, SFU Indigenous Studies.

media release

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

June 19, 2020
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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.