As part of the Microsoft Foundation Services Project, UBC IT has introduced M365 Copilot (Premium) — an enterprise AI service that embeds AI assistance directly within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, and works with the UBC content each user already has permission to access. M365 Copilot (Premium) is available to eligible faculty and staff as a paid annual subscription, building on Copilot Chat (Basic), which remains included at no cost with UBC’s Microsoft 365 licenses.
Copilot operates entirely within UBC’s Microsoft 365 enterprise environment — the same boundary that protects UBC email, Teams, and OneDrive. It respects existing permissions, and prompts, responses, and UBC content are not used to train the underlying AI models.
Copilot Chat (Premium) currently comes with both Claude (Anthropic) Opus and Sonnet models, as well as Chat GPT (OpenAI) Sol models.
For service details, eligibility, and how to subscribe, visit the M365 Premium page. To learn about the service itself, visit Microsoft Copilot at UBC.
Rollout Strategy
UBC IT is taking a deliberate, trust-first approach to enterprise AI. Before launch, the project completed a privacy impact assessment, introduced Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels, invited SharePoint site owners to review whether their sites should be discoverable by Copilot, and aligned the deployment with UBC’s AI Strategy Framework guardrails.
The rollout itself is intentionally gradual. M365 Copilot (Premium) is offered as a managed subscription — requested through the UBC Self-Service Portal with manager approval and departmental funding — rather than a broad automatic deployment. Availability will start measured and expand over time as the project confirms the service’s efficacy and safety in UBC’s environment, with training, guidance, and support expanding alongside it. This pacing lets UBC evaluate where Copilot genuinely improves work, strengthen information governance practices as adoption grows, and give faculties and departments evidence on which roles and tasks benefit most before they invest in licenses.
Resources
Microsoft Copilot Overview — Working with AI, Safely
An introduction to Microsoft Copilot at UBC for all staff and faculty. It explains the two Copilot tiers, how Copilot operates inside UBC’s Microsoft 365 service boundary (“same house, same locks”), what actually happens when you submit a prompt, the difference between enterprise and consumer AI tools, and the safeguards UBC put in place before saying “go” — from the privacy impact assessment to sensitivity labels and SharePoint indexing reviews.
AI: Information Governance, Copilot, and Your Responsibilities
What every UBC employee needs to know about the sensitivity labels rollout. It covers why information governance matters more in an AI-enabled workplace, UBC’s four label levels (Low, Medium, High, and Very High Risk) with definitions and examples aligned to the UBC Information Security Standard U1, and each person’s responsibilities for classifying, protecting, and governing the information they work with.
M365 Copilot (Premium) Value Screener
A short diagnostic to help managers and department administrators decide whether a role or task is a strong candidate for an M365 Copilot (Premium) license before submitting a request. It walks through a small set of screening questions — including whether the work lives in Microsoft 365 and whether its data classification permits AI assistance — and provides a worked example, so license decisions are grounded in evidence rather than enthusiasm.
In Scope / Out of Scope
In scope at launch
Copilot Chat (Basic) — the secure AI chat experience included with UBC’s Microsoft 365 licensing for eligible users.
M365 Copilot (Premium) — AI assistance embedded in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, grounded in the Microsoft 365 content each licensed user is already authorized to access.
Out of scope at launch
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Cowork | An agentic workspace experience in which Copilot takes on and carries out multi-step work. |
| Copilot Agents | Pre-built and custom AI agents that act on a user’s behalf within Microsoft 365. |
| Copilot Studio | Microsoft’s tool for building custom agents, automations, and AI workflows. |
These capabilities are not enabled in UBC’s environment at launch. UBC IT is completing testing and putting in place the guardrails required to launch them safely. Stay tuned — updates will be shared on this page and through UBC IT communications as these functions are assessed and become available.
Training
Training is a core part of the rollout — every Copilot user should complete both streams. Visit General Training for Microsoft 365 for schedules and registration.
- AI Governance (Sensitivity Labels) Training — how to classify information using UBC’s sensitivity labels and work with AI responsibly within UBC’s privacy and security requirements. Recommended for all staff and faculty, whether or not they hold a Premium license.
- Productivity Training — hands-on sessions on working effectively with Copilot, from everyday use of Copilot Chat (Basic) to redesigning workflows with M365 Copilot (Premium). Sign up: General Training for Microsoft 365