Welcome to the VP Finance & Operations portfolio
The nine divisions of the VPFO are responsible for the stewardship of UBC’s physical and financial assets, as well as safety and risk management for our university community.
We oversee a $3.98 billion budget, a $3.38 billion endowment, and all facilities on both campuses, as well as managing the university’s relationships with UBC Investment Management and UBC Properties Trust. In all the portfolio’s responsibilities, we are committed to the values of innovation, unity and accountability.

VPFO Strategic Plan 2024–2027
Having a strategic plan gives us a clear path, keeping everyone on the same page. Learn more about where we’re going next and how we plan to get there.
News from the VPFO
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Collaboration between Building Operations and UBC’s Plant Care Services to Improve Soil Quality at UBC’s Research Fields
A collaboration between UBC’s Plant Care Services and Building Operations is improving soil quality for researchers at Plant Care Services’ Totem Field and providing an environmentally friendly outlet for compost on campus.
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VPFO Finance Realignments Following Workday Go-Live
Many members of our VPFO team played key roles in launch of Workday at UBC, and following the success of go-live we are ready to continue modernizing our core business processes, improve how we are structured, and transform the way…
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Consolidating capital expertise in the VPFO
We are pleased to announce the creation of a new Capital Financial Management team that will be responsible for the oversight and governance for UBC’s significant capital operations (i.e. over $1B ongoing/multi-year projects).
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Campus Security honours victims of the Kamloops Residential School
This week, Campus Security has put on orange epaulets in shared grief and to pay our respects to the children of the Kamloops Residential School, their families and communities.
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Changes to support VPFO Finance priorities
Over the past few weeks, Vice-President Peter Smailes and our portfolio leadership team have shared their insights into how our unit priorities align with our portfolio strategic plan. We would like to share more specific details about one of those initiatives, a change to how the VPFO’s internal finance teams are structured.
People of the VPFO
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Noel McNally promoted as Senior Project Manager in Infrastructure Development
In his new role, Noel will be leading one of the teams of project managers in Project Services, and continue his present scope of work of directly managing complex projects such as Jack Bell Building Renewal and Faculty of Applied…
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Selina Liu Joins Energy & Water Services as Energy Conservation Engineer
She joins us from BCIT as the Energy Manager, where she managed a team of engineers and BMS technicians to implement robust process improvements to increase energy efficiency across the Institute. The projects and process improvements she has implemented during…
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Tracy Pham joins VPFO Communications & Engagement as Manager, Digital & Creative
In her new role, Tracy aims to transform the digital channels of the VPFO and bring forth new enhancements to optimize the user experience. As a multi-skilled marketer, she brings effective technical and communication skills that can help bridge the…
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Growing our capabilities and strengthening the Treasury team
With the transition of Holly’s maternity leave, Treasury has taken this as an opportunity to grow the capabilities and knowledge of the Treasury team, and strengthen the team’s ability to provide value-added service and advice across UBC. Please join us…
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Pera Hardy joins the Facilities Planning team in Infrastructure Development as Senior Facilities Planner
Pera is a registered architect (AIBC) and LEED Green Associate, Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). Her programming, planning, design and construction experience in K-12 schools and post-secondary projects will be very beneficial to facilities planning work on campus.