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Toronto Metropolitan University

Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly known as Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

History
During the Second World War, Howard Hillen Kerr, the director of the Training and Re-Establishment Institute, along with other members of the Toronto Board of Education, saw a need for specialized institutes to provide educational and vocational training for specific jobs for returning veterans. After a trip to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1943, Kerr envisioned a similar institute in Canada spanning "the gap" between secondary education and universities. Kerr's effort led to the Vocational Education Act and the creation of vocational schools and technological institutes in Ontario. Although several institutes had been planned during the war, their establishment was delayed by the advent of the Cold War and the potential need to remobilize. However, with the prospect of another war diminished greatly by 1948, the decision was made to open the Ryerson Institute of Technology, with class calendars hastily issued in August 1948. The school was named after Egerton Ryerson, who established the Toronto Normal School in 1847 on the future site of the Ryerson Institute of Technology. He also helped develop education in Canada West as the region's chief superintendent of education, creating a model for publicly funding the training of teachers and working on Canada West's Education Act, 1846. The site of the normal school eventually developed into several buildings used by the province's Department of Education and what became the Ontario Agricultural College, Royal Ontario Museum, OCAD University, and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Later, the grounds were used by the Royal Canadian Air Force as a training centre during the Second World War. The Ryerson Institute of Technology was officially opened on September 16, 1948, with approximately 250 students enrolled. Kerr served as the institution's first principal until 1966, when he became the head of the Council of Regents for Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology. The initial aim for the institute to serve as a career training and vocational school was reflected by its early enrolment, with the majority of its early students being enrolled in continuing education part-time night school programs, as opposed to a full-year academic stream. Initially the institute only offered two-year career training and vocational programs; its program catalogue was later expanded to include three-year diplomas by the early 1950s. The institution was provided with its own board of governors and renamed Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1964. The nursing programs of three hospitals were transferred to the institution, the first one to be offered in a post-secondary institution in Canada. then Bachelor of Business Administration in 1977. The school of graduate studies was formally established in 1997. As a result of Egerton Ryerson's association with the establishment of the Canadian Indian residential school system, the institution faced calls to reevaluate the namesake of the university in 2017. A consultation process to formulate the institution's response to the report was launched in 2018, led by faculty member Denise O'Neil Green. In 2018, a plaque that describes Egerton Ryerson's role in the residential school system was placed next to the statue of him. In June 2021, the statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled by activists and its severed head was thrown into Toronto Harbour. The university stated that the statue will not be restored or replaced. In August 2021, the university announced that it would accept the 22 recommendations of an internal task force, including the renaming of the university. On April 26, 2022, the university announced its renaming to Toronto Metropolitan University. The name change was formalized in December 2022 through an amendment to the institution's governing legislation. On April 15, 2025, a motorist intentionally struck four pedestrians on the university's walkway, adjacent to Gould Street, leaving one with serious injuries. == Campus ==
Campus
The university's central campus primarily lies within the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The campus is "interwoven" with the rest of the downtown core, with few entrance markers delineating the campus from the rest of the city. Most of the campus is designated as a mixed-use institutional area, although portions of the campus are situated in areas zoned for commercial and residential use. In addition to zoning by-laws, the height of the university's buildings is also limited by ordinances that protect the flight paths of air medical services to St. Michael's Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children. Gerrard Street to the north, Jarvis Street to the east, Dundas Street East to the south, and Yonge Street to the west, serve as the perimeter for the campus core; although the university also operates facilities beyond the core campus. Kerr Hall serves as the "campus heart," while Gould Street to the south of Kerr Hall serves as the university's main east–west corridor, connecting it with the other areas of the campus.. In May 2025, the (former) Dundas TTC station stop was approved to be renamed to TMU station and will be renamed December 7th. Most of the streets and laneways throughout Toronto Metropolitan University's campus are considered a part of the public realm. These include connector streets open to vehicular traffic and pedestrian-only streets. Victoria Street south of Gerrard Street is designated as a pedestrian-only zone, having been closed to vehicular traffic since 1978. In 2010, a one-year pilot program was approved by the municipal government that limited Gould Street to pedestrian traffic only, an initiative that was later extended by six months. In February 2012, the city moved to permanently close Gould Street to car traffic, from O'Keefe Lane to Bond Street. The closed pedestrian-only portions of Gould Street is designated as Toronto Metropolitan University Square, and includes an outdoor skating rink in the winter. is pictured in the background. Most of the parks, plazas, and green spaces on the university's campus are owned by the university, although access to these spaces is also open to the public. These spaces include Devonian Square, and Kerr Hall's quadrangle. Devonian Square was designed by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division, and was partly funded by the Devonian Group of Charitable Foundations of Calgary—who also lent the park its name. In addition to green spaces, a green roof and urban farm, initially known as the Andrew and Valerie Pringle Environmental Green Roof, was built atop George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre in 2003. The urban farm operates on a five-year crop rotation, and contains 30 different crops and hundreds of cultivars. The university plans to continue to operate them as parking lots until enough capital is raised to develop the sites. Buildings The university operates more than 40 buildings. As of 2019, the university's buildings account for over of gross floor area. The campus includes an assortment of buildings from different architectural periods; Oakham House dating back to 1848, and the university's newest building, the Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex, opened in 2019. Many of the earliest buildings built specifically for use by the university were designed during the mid-20th century in a Brutalist architectural-style. The university campus saw significant expansion during the early 21st century, with the university's total floor area nearly doubling in size from 2000 to 2019. Several buildings operate as shared spaces between the university and other tenants. Along with university-owned properties, the university also leases or holds strata titles for a number of properties surrounding the central campus. Library and museum . The library building is visible in the background. Toronto Metropolitan University Library serves as the main academic library for the university, and is housed in an 11-storey Brutalist-style structure that was completed in 1974. As of 2012, the library's collection held over 522,000 books, over 836,000 microform units, and provide access to electronic resources including e-books, serial titles, and databases. In 2015, the Student Learning Centre was completed adjacent to the library building. The Student Learning Centre was designed by the architectural firm Snøhetta, and was built to augment the library by providing additional study space; although no books from the university's collection are stored in the Student Learning Centre. The Image Centre includes several galleries, with one dedicated for exhibit works from students of the School of Image Arts. In total, the centre's collection contains approximately 375,000 objects, including historical photographs, photographs from contemporary artists, as well as the archival collections from publications like Life and The New York Times. Housing and student facilities The university operates three student residences with approximately 1,144 beds on campus including the Daphne Cockwell Complex, the International Living & Learning Centre, and Pitman Hall. The International Learning Centre was built in 1987 and is oldest student residence, housing approximately 256 residences. However, approximately 17.9 per cent of the university's first year students lived on campus. In an effort to increase the number of residences available for students, the university entered into a public–private partnership in 2012 to construct the HOEM residence on Jarvis Street. However, as opposed to the university's other residences, the HOEM residence is not owned and operated by the university. O'Keefe House was repurposed for other university uses after the HOEM residence was opened in 2018. The Student Campus Centre contains the offices of a number of student organizations, including the Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union, The Eyeopener student newspaper, and other student groups. Opened in 2018, the centre was formed in partnership between the university's Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, Bombardier, and the Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research Consortium (DAIR). The centre provides a collaborative research environment for the university's faculty and graduate students with its industry partners. Brampton In 2018, the university announced plans to open a new campus in the neighbouring municipality of Brampton, in partnership with Sheridan College, in 2022. The provincial government allocated approximately $90 million in order to fund the development of the campus. However, provincial funding for the project was later withdrawn in October 2018 by a new provincial government, effectively cancelling the planned development. In 2022, the university announced plans to open a medical school in Brampton. Brampton City Council gifted the university the Bramalea Civic Centre for this purpose. The university established its School of Medicine in 2025, which began operating from its Brampton campus that year. Sustainability The university's Facilities Management and Development maintains a sustainability office that is charged with implementing green initiatives and sustainable operating practices throughout the university's facilities. The university is a signatory of the Talloires Declaration, a declaration for sustainability created for presidents of post-secondary institutions around the world. In 2009, the university, along with the other members from the Council of Ontario Universities, signed a pledge known as Ontario Universities Committed to a Greener World, with the objective of transforming its campus into a model of environmental responsibility. ==Administration==
Administration
The university operates under a bicameral system with a board of governors and a senate empowered by provincial legislation, the Toronto Metropolitan University Act. The president is the chair of the senate and a member of the board of governors by virtue of their office. The university completed the 2019–2020 academic year with $833.17 million of income, and $854.7 million in expenses. Government grants make up the largest source of income for the university, followed by student fees and tuition revenue. Salaries make up more than half of the university's expenses at $515.7 million. As of April 2020, the university's endowment is valued at $136.285 million. ==Academics==
Academics
is one of a number of university facilities used by the university's Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences The university's academic year functions on a three-term system, fall, winter, and spring/summer. The university's academic programs are administered by seven faculties, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Community Services, the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, the Faculty of Science, The Creative School, the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, the School of Medicine, and the Ted Rogers School of Management; the latter academic division serving as the university's business school. The School of Medicine is the newest school established by the university, with 94 students admitted in its first year. Most faculties are further organized into smaller departments and schools. The Creative School is an academic division made up of nine schools focused on media, design, and creative industries; including the RTA School of Media. The Faculty of Science is composed of four departments. Graduate programs are coordinated by the Yeates School of Graduate Studies. Continuing education at the university is managed by the Chang School of Continuing Education; which offered over 400 courses as of February 2021. at Toronto Metropolitan University compared to the Ontario average over the years The university has 909 full-time faculty members during the 2019–20 academic year. In the same year, the university had an enrolment of 28,800 full-time undergraduate students and 2,600 full-time graduate students. In 2023, university has a reported a student-faculty ratio of 33:1. In 2018, the university conferred 7,199 bachelor's degrees, 1,084 master's degrees, and 75 doctoral degrees. More than a quarter of the bachelor's degrees awarded that year were conferred to students in business and commerce programs. The majority of master's and doctoral degrees conferred by the university in 2018 were to students in engineering or social science-related programs. The graduation rate for students that entered the university in 2011 is 74.2 per cent. The university holds membership in a number of national and international post-secondary organizations, such as Universities Canada and the International Association of Universities. The university's business school is also accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Reputation In ''Maclean's'' 2023 Canadian university rankings, the university was ranked eighth in the magazine's comprehensive university category, tied with the University of New Brunswick; In the 2018–19 year, the university published 1,369 academic publications, and formed over 303 research funding partnerships. During the 2018–19 year, Toronto Metropolitan University's allocation of Canada Research Chairs was 23, with the university receiving $17.1 million from the Tri-Council for research support; most of which was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The university also managed to raise $49.6 million for research support from various levels of government. In the same year, the university managed to raise $13.2 million for research support from various related industries and non-governmental sources. In 2020, Research Infosource ranked Toronto Metropolitan University 23rd out of 50 Canadian research universities; with the university having a sponsored research income of $79.574 million during the 2019 fiscal year. In the same year, the university's faculty averaged a sponsored research income of $95,200, while graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $28,900 in 2019. Notable research projects and endeavours associated with the university includes hitchBOT, a hitchhiking robot created by university faculty member, Frauke Zeller, and David Smith of McMaster University. HitchBOT formed a part of the larger Smart Robots for Health Communication project, a joint research initiative between the two universities to study social robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-to-robot interactions; especially in a clinical environment. Business incubator network The university operates Canada's largest network of university-based business incubators, the Zone Learning network, which is made up of 11 incubators focused on different sectors and business challenges. The first and largest 'zone', The DMZ, was established in 2010 as the Digital Media Zone, before later changing its name to DMZ. The DMZ assists early to mid-stage technology start-ups by connecting them with investors and researchers, as well as provide them access to mentors from industry-related experts. As of January 2023, the DMZ has assisted over 750 businesses, raised over $1.95 billion in funding, and fostered over 4800 jobs in the community. Notable start-ups supported by the DMZ include 500px. In 2018, UBI Global named The DMZ as the world's best university-based business incubator. In 2020, the university partnered with the City of Brampton to launch the Brampton Venture Zone by TMU. The incubator was billed as a "soft landing pad" for international startups breaking into North America, and was renamed the 'Brampton Venture Zone by TMU' in August 2022, in light of the university's renaming process. Admissions The requirements for admission differ between students from Ontario, students from other provinces in Canada, and students based outside of Canada, due to the lack of uniformity in marking schemes. In addition to academic records, the university requires applicants whose first language is not English to present proof that they are proficient in the language. The mean secondary school average for a newly admitted students from an Ontario-based secondary school institution in the 2018–19 academic year was 85.4 per cent. The retention rate for the university's first-time, full-time first-year students in any program was 88 per cent. ==Student life==
Student life
) during frosh week in 2013. In the 2019–20 academic year, the university's student body included 44,400 full-time and part-time undergraduate students, and 2,950 full-time and part-time graduate students. According to a survey conducted in 2015, approximately 54 per cent of Toronto Metropolitan University's students travelled to the campus using local transit systems like the TTC. Approximately 23 per cent of students travelled to campus using GO Transit, 14 per cent walked, and the remaining 5 per cent biked. TMU station on Line 1 Yonge–University is the closest subway stop to the campus. Organizations The university full-time undergraduate population is represented by the Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union (TMSU); whereas the university's graduate student body is represented by the Toronto Metropolitan Graduate Students' Union. Part-time students, students taking distance education programs, and students of the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education are represented by the Continuing Education Students’ Association of X University. All three student union organizations are members of the Canadian Federation of Students. Funds for RSU operations is collected from students through the university. Services provided by the RSU includes academic advocacy, legal services, and medical insurance. There are faculty-level academic student society governments within all faculties that fulfill the needs of student engagement, professional development, mental health, and student life. These student activity governments includes; the Ted Rogers Students' Society; for TRSM, the Faculty of Community Services Society; for FCS, The Society of The Creative School; for TCS, the Metropolitan Undergraduate Engineering Society; the Architectural Science Student Society; for FEAS, the Society of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, for FoA, Undergraduate Science Society of Toronto Metropolitan; for FoS, and the Lincoln Alexander Law Students' Society. for FoL. All student societies are incorporated within the university through the Board of Governors, and their retrospective Dean's Offices. All faculty student societies plan their faculty's frosh weeks, formals, provide merch, and run other professional events. Some academic programs have a course union club that are clubs dedicated to create a sense of belonging in a program. Course union clubs are third party to the university, not always elected, and funded by the TMSU. A number of cultural, social, and recreational social groups are also recognized by the TMSU. Formally, fraternities and sororities are not recognized by the university, or accredited as student organizations by the university's student unions. Fraternities and sororities are not accredited by the RSU given the union's requirement for accredited groups to have inclusive membership, and for them to be free of organizational levies. CJRU serves as the successor to CJRT-FM and CKLN-FM, two public radio stations formerly operated by the university. The Eyeopener is a student newspaper that has operated at the university since 1967; initially established by students of the RTA School of Media. The newspaper is operated by Rye Eye Publishing, a student-owned non-profit corporation. Additionally, On the Record also produces a newscast known as OTR TV. Varsity teams includes badminton, basketball, fencing, figure skating, ice hockey, soccer, and volleyball. The university's athletic department also maintains several other sports clubs for baseball, crickets, cross country, curling, dragon boat, esports, rugby, table tennis, track and field, ultimate frisbee, and wrestling. The university fielded its first sport teams in 1948, shortly after the institution was established. The university operates three athletic facilities in and around its campus, the Recreation and Athletic Centre, Kerr Hall Gymnasium/West, and the Mattamy Athletic Centre. The Recreation and Athletic Centre serves as the central hub for the university's athletics department, with the facility housing a fitness centre, gymnasiums, a indoor track, a pool, and squash courts. Kerr Hall Gymnasium is another athletic facility on campus that includes two gymnasiums. The Mattamy Athletic Centre is an athletic centre that forms the upper portions of Maple Leaf Gardens. The Mattamy Athletic Centre includes a cardio room, a court for basketball and volleyball, an ice-hockey rink, a fitness centre, and dance studio. The university's athletics program adopted its first mascot in 1961, when students from the Student Administrative Council purchased a live ram and decorated him with pendants for an ice hockey game. A total of five live ram mascots were used from 1961 to 1991. The mascot was changed to a falcon in 2022, coinciding with the varsity teams' name change from the Ryerson Rams to the TMU Bold. ==Insignias and other representations==
Insignias and other representations
and gold. When the university was initially founded, a crest was used to identify the school. with azure intended to represent loyalty and truth, and gold representing generosity and elevation of the mind. The university also has an official seal to authenticate documents. A new seal was introduced in 2022, and features the Student Learning Centre in its centre. The seal was designed by a Ted Rogers School of Management student, who entered the design in a student competition. Motto and song The university's Latin motto that appears on the coat of arms, Mente et artificio, translates to "With Mind and Skill". Coat of arms The university was granted a coat of arms in 1966 by the College of Arms in London, England. Elements used in the heraldic achievement include ram (Aries) supporters, representing creative impulses. Elements on the escutcheon include the Lamp of Learning to symbolize intelligence, and a set square to represent construction. ==Notable people==
Notable people
Several individuals are associated with the university either as alumni or members of its administration or faculty. As of 2017, there were nearly 170,000 Toronto Metropolitan University alumni worldwide. All graduates of the university are members of the University Alumni Association. Alumni and faculty of the university have received a number of academic awards, such as the Commonwealth Scholarship and the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Alumni of Toronto Metropolitan University have assumed notable roles in a wide range of fields and specialties. Alumni that were in prominent positions in business includes Patrick Dovigi, founder and CEO of GFL Environmental; Tony Gagliano, chairman and CEO of St. Joseph Communications; John Galt, president and CEO of Husky Injection Molding Systems; Isadore Sharp, founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts; and Klaus Woerner, founder and CEO of ATS Automation Tooling Systems. A number of alumni have also found success in the arts, including Ellen Wong, Nina Dobrev, Daniel Louis, Mena Massoud,Rebecca Liddiard, HAUI, Eric McCormack, Hannah Simone, Nia Vardalos, and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood. Notable alumni in the literary arts includes Louise Penny and Robert J. Sawyer. Amira Abdelrasoul, a chemical engineer, was also a doctoral student at the university. Notable graduates in journalism include Michelle Shephard Robyn Doolittle and Brian Stewart. Another notable alumnus is Don Andrews, white supremacist and perennial candidate for Mayor of Toronto. A number of notable individuals have also served as a part of the university's administration or as a member of its faculty. Notable lecturers and professors include David Crombie, the Secretary of State for Canada; and Jack Layton, the former leader of the official opposition in Canada. Stuart McLean, a Canadian radio broadcaster, humorist, monologist, and author was a professor of journalism from 1984 until 2004. G. Raymond Chang, the chairman and president of CI Financial, also served as the chancellor of the university from 2006 to 2012. ==See also==
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