In 1962, the
Scarborough Board of Education acquired the site for Guildwood Secondary School at a cost of $303,751.00. A year later, Guildwood was renamed to
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute, after Canada's seventh prime minister,
Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Construction for Laurier began in 1964 and opened on September 7, 1965, as its twelfth collegiate in Scarborough. The building was designed by architects Hugh L. Allward and George P. Gouinlock with Bennett and Pratt its contractors. The original school building featured 23 standard classrooms, 1 art room, 1 music room, 5 science labs, 1 library, 2 home economics, 1 vocational shop, 3 typing rooms, auditorium, 2 gymnasiums, cafeteria, 2 geography rooms and 1 business machines room. Additions consisted of a second gymnasium in 1970, academic wing in 1972 and a pool in 1975. The school has a capacity of 1416 students and its enrolment has been rising to the point where the school is slightly over capacity, despite an overall trend in the
Toronto District School Board of declining student enrolment. The population is diverse, with about 40% speaking a primary language other than English and 15% having lived in Canada for less than 5 years. ==Academics==