The Peter B. Gustavson School of Business is the business school at the University of Victoria located in the municipality of Oak Bay, British Columbia. Since 15 July 2026, the acting dean has been Dr. Graham Brown.
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About
The institution was established in 1990. The school was originally called the UVic Faculty of Business, and was renamed on October 22, 2010, following a donation of $10 million by Peter B. Gustavson.
On October 7, 2011, Sardul S. Gill gave a $5 million gift to the Gustavson School and the graduate school was renamed as the Sardul S. Gill Graduate School at the Gustavson School of Business.
The school provides undergraduate, graduate and executive programs including:
Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
Business Minor
Entrepreneurship Minor
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Sustainable Innovation
Master of Global Business (MGB)
Master in Management (MM)
PhD in Management & Organization
Executive Programs
Two custom MBA programs
Accreditation
The Gustavson School of Business is double-accredited by both the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), two of the international accreditations of management education.
The Peter B. Gustavson School was first awarded accreditation in February 2007 and has since maintained the EQUIS Quality label.
On December 17, 2010, Gustavson was awarded accreditation to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
History
1982 – UVic's senate approves a proposal to establish a School of Business.
1989 – Dr. J.A. Schofield is appointed acting director of the new School of Business.
1990 – The business school was established as the UVic School of Commerce.
1990 – The UVic School of Business officially launches BCom program with 158 students, a co-operative education component and three specializations: entrepreneurship, international business and tourism/hospitality management. Dr. David Boag is appointed as the school's first director.
1991 – The School of Business' appoints dedicated faculty members including Dr. Ali Dastmalchian, Dr. Ignace Ng, Dr. Dale Beckman and Dr. Peter Murphy. A board of advisers is established and chaired by Mr. David Black. The International Programs office is established and 71 students participate on exchange in North and Southeast Asia.
1992 – The MBA program launches with an inaugural class of 32 candidates. The UVic School of Commerce welcomes its first class of incoming exchange students from National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan. The Commerce Students' Society is founded.
1993 – The Commerce Students' Society creates the first Greater Victoria Business Banquet to connect the regional business community and future leaders.
1994 – The School of Business celebrates its first convocation when 61 BCom students and 26 MBA students receive degrees.
1995 – The university grants the School of Business faculty status and establishes a Faculty Business, with Dr. Roger Wolff as the first dean. While maintaining its official name for ceremonial purposes, the faculty re-brands itself as UVic Business.
1997 – Construction ends and the Business and Economics Building, home of the Faculty Business, officially opens in September.
Programs
The Gustavson School of Business offers the following programs:
Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
UVic offers a four-year Bachelor of Commerce undergraduate program. Gustavson students take a number of required courses and electives in the first three terms of their degree. Required courses in these first few terms include "Microeconomics", "Statistics for Business", "Organizational Behaviour" and "Financial Accounting." In the spring of Year 2, students take a set of foundational business courses with their cohort. In the fall of Year 3, they continue to take those foundational business courses with their cohort. Year 4 includes the opportunity to go on an international exchange plus specializing in a specific area. Prior to 2025, the BCom program originally followed a "2+2" program structure where students took pre-commerce coursework and a number of required courses in the first two years of their degree, before moving into the BCom core in the final two years for business courses.
Gustavson offers four specializations including:
entrepreneurship and innovation
service design, marketing and management
financial management
artificial intelligence and technology management
The Gustavson School of Business integrates paid, full-time work experience terms for all undergraduates into the program.
Business Minor
The UVic Business Minor lets non-business students gain some business skills by taking six courses.
Entrepreneurship Minor
The Entrepreneurship Minor lets non-business students learn about owning and running a business. It includes three business courses plus the courses in the entrepreneurship specialization.
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Sustainable Innovation
The UVic MBA in Sustainable Innovation, at the Gill Graduate School, is an MBA graduate program for the working professional. The program is 24 months in length, delivered in-person once per month.
Master of Global Business (MGB)
The Master of Global Business (MGB) degree program offers recent undergraduate degree holders the chance to travel, study and work in three different continents over 12-16 months.
The MGB graduate program starts at the University of Victoria campus in Victoria, BC, before moving on to two other partner institutions in Asia, Europe or South America.
Master in Management (MM)
The Master in Management (MM) graduate degree program offers recent undergraduate degree holders from various backgrounds the opportunity to hone their business, technical and leadership skills over 12-16 months.
PhD in Management and Organization
The PhD in Management and Organization is for those pursuing a research-track academic career and typically takes 4-6 years to complete.
Executive programs
Executive Programs provide training for organizations and individuals in areas such as project management, leadership and strategy, and business skills.
Custom MBA
UVic has offered TELUS a custom MBA program in Strategic Leadership since 2015 and offered the British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres a custom MBA in Advancing Reconciliation since 2023.
Student Society
Founded in 1992, the Commerce Students' Society (CSS) is the student society of the Gustavson School of Business that represents over 800 students. In addition to offering services to students, the CSS is an advocate of student issues and ensures the needs of students are presented to University administration.
Notable alumni
Nathan Fielder: started a not-for-profit company called Summit Ice Apparel
Ryan Holmes
Jeff Mallett