O downtown has way better classrooms (Chairs/desks/multimedia), some of the Burnaby ones are shite.

Burnaby has things like on-campus restaurants, but TBH I seldom use them. Downtown is... downtown. Anything you could possibly want can be found from international food courts to hookers and blow.

TIL BCIT has a gym, looks pretty good.

closest gym to the bcit downtown campus is steve nash, but it's really expensive and they might not even open again after this pandemic

otherwise, there's club16 and ymca but they are really far from the downtown campus so trying to go there after a whole day of class, grabbing food, then transiting home when you still have homework to do, it will be a huge time constraint

i'd say if you live near the burnaby campus, just try to take classes there. at least the gym is right there after classes then you can just study in the library after and take like what, 10-20 mins going home?

the only caveat of not going downtown is the accessibility to restaurants and nightlife (if applicable)