Whether you’re a future student looking to see campus before you arrive or a community member interested in learning more – the Future Students Office (FSO) offers in person (and now virtually through this blog) campus tours! To start off with a little bit of general campus info, campus spans 250 hectares and typically takes around ten minutes to walk from one side to the other. TRU is located on the traditional and unceeded territory of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, and as a TRU student, I am both honoured and grateful to be a guest on these lands.
Future Students Office
We’ll begin with the best office in town, aka, the FSO! Essentially, we are campus generalists, so we know a little bit about everything. And if we don’t know the answer to your question – we know where to direct you! The Future Students Office works with domestic students interested in attending TRU, and assist you during the application process all the way to when you’re admitted to your program of choice.
Cplul’kw’ten
A friendly and inviting Indigenous centre that provides information on all aspects of university life and doubles as a space to socialize, study, or just take a break from your day. It is intended as a home away from home for our Indigenous students but all are welcome! They offer programs such as Elder in the House, mentoring, learning circles, and Soup Circle Wednesdays.
Tournament Capital Centre (TCC)
Our varsity athletes practice and have home games here. As a TRU student you get a discounted fee for Full Access to the Tournament Capital Centre including the gym, high performance gym, indoor track, and outdoor track. All TRU students also have free access to the TCC Olympic size pool as part of their UPass.
McGill Residence
One of the four housing options on campus. The McGill On-Campus Housing has self-contained, fully furnished suites which include a kitchenette. Each suite has a shared washroom between four units.
These rooms are a more traditional dorm room style, and each room has its own exterior exit. Applications are on a first come, first served basis. Housing here starts at $5,790 for the academic year.
Ken Lepin Science Building
Ken Lepin is home to the Faculty of Science. You get lots
of lab experience here because you have weekly labs at TRU. The Respiratory Therapy Program, the only one in BC, is located in this building and there is a full respiratory clinic for Sleep Apnea, where RESP students get hands on experience, on the 3rd floor. Here you will also find the Math and Stats help centre.
Culinary Arts
This is home to our professional cook training programs. The
Scratch Café is open to the campus and the public for breakfast or lunch. It has great food at reasonable prices featuring fresh, local, and house-made soups, entrees, sandwiches, and baking! This building is also home to our campus restaurant, Accolades, which is rated among the top 100 restaurants in all of Canada by McLean’s magazine. Accolades hours change every semester, and a
reservation is necessary.
Nursing & Population Health
The Chappell Family Building for Nursing and Population Health is home to TRU’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Nursing, and Health Care Assistant Programs and features four high-tech simulation labs fully equipped with computerized mannequins, tripled lab space from 16 to 48 beds, a home-visit lab, seminar and breakout rooms, student lounges, research space, and a 60-person classroom. It is the most modern facility in Western Canada. If there is ever an emergency at Royal Inland Hospital, the labs can be used as overflow if needed.
East Village
Another dormitory option located off-campus is East village, portraying a more apartment-style feel. These dorms have either a two-bedroom, four-bed suite or four bedroom suite. We also have a new building on Dalgleish which just completed construction last year! These units have private rooms, with a private washroom and kitchenette. Superstore, Freshco, and Walmart are all grocery stores within easy walking distance from this dormitory and anywhere on campus for that matter.
OLARA
OLARA stands for the Old Library Administration and Research Annex – this building use to house TRU’s main library but is now home to the Office of Research and Graduate studies, Office of Indigenous Education, All My Relations Research Centre, and Gaglardi (Business) Advising. There are also some beautiful newly renovated study spaces and free use of computers for students.
Clock Tower
Mainly administration offices including the President’s and Vice-President’s offices, Marketing and Communications, and Institutional Planning and Effectiveness. There is one lecture hall called Alumni Theatre which is typically used for first year biology and psychology courses. It looks just like the lecture halls you see in movies.
Old Main
Our oldest building on campus and also happens to be the hub of our university, hence the name, Old Main. TRU was founded in 1970 as Caribou College, evolved into the University College of the Caribou, and then became Thompson Rivers University in 2005, named for the North and South Thompson Rivers that connect in the valley below campus. This is a multi-faculty building meaning that most students will have at least one class here regardless of what they are taking. The 1st and 2nd floors are primarily composed of classrooms and student services, whereas the 3rd and 4th floors house our law school.
Stay tuned for part two of our campus tour!
Written by Future Student Ambassador, Kayla Hermiston (2025)
