University Canada West (UCW) is a private, for-profit university in British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 2005 by David F. Strong, the former president of the University of Victoria. UCW was purchased in 2008 by the Eminata Group and in 2014 sold to Global University Systems, its present owners. Based in downtown Vancouver, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs in business and management. History Initial years (2005 – 2008) University Canada West was founded as a for-profit university by David Strong, the former president of the University of Victoria, and a group of investors. It was intended to cater to British Columbian students who had been turned away from the province's public universities as well as the Asian Pacific market and had projected an eventual enrollment of 3000 students. The establishment of the university marked the first time in British Columbia that a for-profit institution had been authorized to use the designation "university," the result of the province's recently enacted, controversial Degree Authorization Act. UCW was approved in 2004 and opened its doors in 2005 in the former Blanshard Elementary School in Victoria, British Columbia. It initially offered undergraduate degrees in commerce, communications, geography, tourism, and economics and a master's degree in business. However, the geography, tourism, and economics programs were later dropped. In an effort to expand its program offerings, UCW bought Victoria College of Art in 2006. The intention was to start a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree. However, after the takeover, enrollment at the art college dropped drastically from 150 students to 12. The university subsequently withdrew its request to the British Columbia Degree Quality Assessment Board for approval for the new degree. UCW opened a second campus in Vancouver in 2008. Eminata Group ownership (2008 – 2014) In 2008, the university was sold to the Eminata Group. At the time of the sale, it was reported that UCW was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and struggling to attract students. Faced with declining enrollment at its Victoria campus, the university closed the site in February 2011. At the time of its closure the Victoria campus had only 24 students enrolled in academic degree programs. The announcement of the imminent closure was made one day after the deadline for a tuition refund had passed. The students were given the option of transferring to another college or to UCW's Vancouver campus. However, some students interviewed on