Thompson Rivers University

ABOUT UNIVERSITY

Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is a public research university located in Kamloops, British Columbia, named after the North and South Thompson rivers. It consists of five academic faculties—the largest being Science and the smallest Law—and three schools, including the Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, the School of Nursing, and the School of Trades and Technology. TRU also operates a satellite campus in Williams Lake and a distance education division known as TRU-Open Learning. The university began in 1970 as Cariboo College, offering academic and vocational programs before transitioning to the University College of the Cariboo (UCC) in 1989, when it began granting degrees in partnership with major BC universities. UCC gained independent degree-granting authority in 1995 and started offering master’s programs in the early 2000s. In 2005, it became TRU through the Thompson Rivers University Act, which merged UCC with BC Open University and created a new institutional structure focused on research, teaching, and open learning. TRU has expanded its facilities, including LEED-certified buildings, the TRU Residence and Conference Centre, and the Faculty of Law, which opened in 2011. The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and was named one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities in 2023. As of 2025, it holds a Platinum rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.