The provincial government has announced its intention to grant North Vancouver's Capilano College full university status.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was at the college on Friday to say legislation will be introduced this spring, and the plan is to hire a chancellor after that, and begin admitting university students by September.

The decision goes against recommendations made by former attorney general Geoff Plant in a recent report on the future of post-secondary education in B.C. He said that Capilano is too close to the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University and therefore should not be granted university status.

But Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell said the new university won't take away students from other nearby universities or colleges, and would offer non-degree programs.

Capilano is the latest in a string of new university announcements. Earlier this week, the premier announced Kwantlen, Malaspina and the University College of the Fraser Valley will also be granted full university status.

The announcement comes as colleges across the province make plans to lay off staff and close spaces for students due to funding cuts.

"The day after Gordon Campbell announced that Malaspina University College was becoming a university, the college was forced to issue layoff notices to seven faculty. How laying off faculty will help colleges prepare for university status is a question that Gordon Campbell isn’t answering,” said the New Democrat Rob Fleming, the MLA for Victoria-Hillside.

Staff at Malaspina later said the college laid off the equivalant of seven full-time positions, affecting up to 16 full time and part-time employees.