The college opened on September 18, 1967, in Oshawa, with 16 portable classrooms, 14 staff and 205 students. It offered courses in
applied arts,
business and
technology. The college soon added courses in
health sciences and adult training. By 1977, enrolment had grown to 1,250 students. In 1993, the college opened a secondary campus in Whitby, Ontario. It began to offer skilled trades and apprenticeship programs through the campus's Skills Training Centre. In the early 2000s, the college established partnerships with
York and
Trent universities which allowed students to access university courses from the Durham College Oshawa campus. In 2003, a similar partnership was formed with
Ontario Tech University. The college expanded its program offerings to include over 100 full-time programs. Enrolment grew to over 7,100 students. In 2018, Durham College completed construction on a new building known as the Centre for Collaborative Education (CFCE). It houses several classrooms for health programs and the Suswaaning Endaajig: First Peoples Indigenous Centre. The Ontario Power Generation Centre for Skilled Trades and Technology (CSTT), located at the Whitby campus, opened in 2022 is home to numerous labs and shops. The facility allowed the college to increase its industrial skilled trades training capacity in Whitby by 750 students. In October 2022 it was announced that the college had acquired naming rights to the
Oshawa GO Station, located 30 minutes away from the college's main campus by bus (8.2 km), for an undisclosed sum. == Student Life ==