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.

UCW was approved in 2004 and opened its doors in 2005 in the former Blanshard Elementary School in Victoria, British Columbia.

At the time of the sale, it was reported that UCW was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and struggling to attract students.

However, some students interviewed on CBC News said their preferred college was unwilling to transfer their UCW course credits, and they could not afford moving to Vancouver.

[14][9] In March 2012, a two-part investigative feature in the British Columbian paper The Province reported on student complaints at UCW and two other Canadian colleges owned by Eminata.

[15][16] In October of that year, the Hindustan Times published an article reporting on interviews with over 30 students, graduates, faculty and former teachers and employees of UCW who "alleged that it [was] a university only in name, and that many of them were duped."

Magee-Shepherd resigned in March 2012, and four months later Arthur Coren was named UCW's new president and vice-chancellor.

[20][21] According to a 2017 interview with Coren in The PIE News (an industry publication for the international education sector), the university's enrolment had increased since 2014 with 80% of its students coming from outside Canada.

[28][29] University Canada West opened a new second campus, Vancouver House, in October 2020, which can accommodate up to 3,400 students.

In line with the bicameral system at many other Canadian universities, the governance structure of UCW is composed of an Academic Council and a Board of Governors.

[36] The Board of Governors oversees the strategic direction of the university including its fiduciary, legal and financial responsibilities.

Although UCW does not receive public funds, the British Columbia Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills requires the institution to file audited financial statements.