Simon Fraser University (SFU) welcomed its first class of 48 students to B.C.’s newest medical school in Surrey on Wednesday.

The SFU Stephens Family School of Medicine will be a three-year, year-round program (including summer studies), which the school says will allow students to graduate a year earlier than traditional programs.

Dr. David Price, dean of SFU’s faculty of medicine, told CBC’s On the Coast last October that the program will focus on training community-based, primary care physicians and emphasize roles like family physicians, pediatricians, psychiatrists, obstetricians and gynecologists.

Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.’s minister of labour, said this is the first new medical school in Western Canada to be established in nearly 60 years, and the second in B.C.

“This is a historic milestone, not just for the city, not just for the university, but for every single family who knows they will be able to see a doctor when they need one,” she said at a news conference Wednesday.

Students will learn to care for patients in community clinics, primary-care settings and hospitals in the Fraser Heath region, according to an SFU news release.

“In the future, they will also provide care through a team-based primary care clinic in the school’s permanent home adjacent to SFU’s Surrey campus, expanding access to health care for people in Surrey while strengthening the region’s health-care system,” said the release.

The permanent location for the school is expected to be complete in 2030; current students will start their classes in an “interim learning space.”

The province said students will graduate with a doctor of medicine degree, and they could start their residencies as early as 2029.

The number of students per cohort will increase in phases, eventually reaching a “steady state” of 120 students annually by 2035.

The province said it has committed $41.1 million in ongoing annual operational funding.

SFU received 1,864 applications for its August 2026 admittance, according to its admissions statistics webpage. Of those, 205 applicants were invited to interview and 48 were chosen for the first cohort.

The University of British Columbia said it is welcoming 328 first-year medical students for the upcoming 2026/27 academic year. It received a total of 3,815 applicants and invited 882 for an interview.

Student excitement

New med student Jasper Delichte said she was very excited to be part of the school’s inaugural class.

She said she was drawn to the school by the opportunities for community-based placement.

“I think it’s great to be learning from very diverse populations throughout our medical education and journey,” Delichte said.

Her classmate Dayton Noga said he previously worked as an emergency room nurse at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, where he saw first-hand the barriers to primary care — and how they can lead to additional pressure on emergency departments.

“I felt like this school would provide me an opportunity to be more direct in the care I provide,” Noga said.

He added that SFU has multiple application streams, including one that doesn’t consider the MCAT entrance exam.

“That barrier … prevents a lot of people that are in existing health-care roles or other roles … who otherwise would make a good fit in this position.”

The students are ready for classes, and Noga said they feel lucky to be chosen.

“The vibes are very high right now.”