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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Continuing as one VPFO under Karamjeet Heer and John Metras’ leadership
Starting June 1, Karamjeet Heer will begin serving as the Interim Vice-President, Finance, and John Metras will become the Interim Vice-President, Operations following the departure of Peter Smailes, former Vice-President, Finance and Operations.
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May 26 VPFO Town Hall Presentation and Slides
In this VPFO town hall, we reviewed the leadership transition plan, looked back on our accomplishments, and learned about our strategic plan together as one portfolio. The town hall recording and presentation slides are now available.
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Preparing for transition in the VPFO
The hand off starts now. Starting on June 1, Karamjeet Heer will be serving as the Interim Vice-President, Finance, and John Metras will be the Interim Vice-President, Operations.
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tə šxʷhəleləm̓s tə k̓ʷaƛ̓kʷəʔaʔɬ is now occupied
Located adjacent to and infilling around the Walter Gage Residence, the student residence project tə šxʷhəleləm̓s tə k̓ʷaƛ̓kʷəʔaʔɬ will provide a total of 940 housing beds for upper-year students.
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The C.D. Howe Institute ranks UBC first in both climate change & endowment activities and their governance
Independent non-profit research institute The C.D. Howe Institute ranked UBC first in Climate Change and Endowment Activities with an overall score of 4.2. UBC also placed first in Climate-change Governance practices, scoring 4.9 out of 5.0.
People of the VPFO
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In memory of Dirceu Campos
It is with a profound sense of sadness that we learned of the unexpected passing of our friend and colleague Dirceu Campos. Dirceu was a valued team member of the UBC Payroll Operations Team. He started with UBC in 2018…
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Sean Lynch promoted to Director, Custodial Services within Facilities
Sean Lynch has been promoted to become UBC Facilities new Director, Custodial Services effective August 2, 2022.
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Explore UBC this summer with Sarah Goold, our Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis from Treasury
Sarah Goold, Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis and UBC alumna, created a series of maps to help team members across Treasury get to know our beautiful campus better — and we thought you may be interested too!
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Martin Go promoted to Waste Site Supervisor in Municipal Services within Facilities
Martin joined the Waste Management team in 2011 as a Medium Truck Driver and has advanced through progressively more responsible positions as an Express of Interest (EOI) for the Head of Waste Management and as an elected shop safety representative.
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Steve MacGregor joins Privacy and Information Security Management (PrISM) as Manager, PIA Operations and Engagement in Safety & Risk Services
Steve will be responsible for the successful operational delivery and management of Privacy Impact Assessments and related services. He comes to us from SFU where he was instrumental in ensuring that SFU had proper controls and processes in place to…