University Canada West

University Canada West (informally UCW) is a private, for-profit, educational institution in British Columbia, Canada. The university was founded in 2005 by David F. Strong, the former president of the University of Victoria, purchased in 2008 by the Eminata Group, and is currently owned by Global University Systems. The university is based in downtown Vancouver, and currently offers predominantly business and management related programs.

University Canada West was founded in Victoria, British Columbia in 2005 by David Strong, the former president of the University of Victoria. The establishment of the university marked the first time in British Columbia in which a for-profit institution had been authorized to use the designation "university," the result of the province's recently enacted, controverisal Degree Authorization Act. In 2008 the school opened a second campus in Victoria. That same year it was purchased by the Eminata Group. At the time of the sale, it was reported the school was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and struggling to attract students.

Faced with declining enrollment at its Victoria campus, in February 2010 the university shuttered the second site, giving prior students the option of transferring to another college or to its other campus. However, some students interviewed on CBC News said their preferred college was unwilling to transfer their units and they could not afford moving to the college's other campus.