University of Toronto campus in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
This article is about the University of Toronto campus in Mississauga, Ontario. For general information on the university as a whole, see University of Toronto.
The University of Toronto Mississauga (U of T Mississauga or UTM) is one of three campuses of the University of Toronto, located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Originally established in 1967 as Erindale College, a constituent college of the Faculty of Arts and Science, it became its own division of the university in 2003. The campus has since grown to become the university's second-largest division overall[8] and its second-largest campus in terms of enrolment, the other two of which are the Scarborough campus and the central St. George campus in downtown Toronto.
UTM is set upon 225 acres along the valley of the Credit River approximately 33kilometres west of downtown Toronto. It offers University of Toronto degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level, across 15 academic departments and 3 institutions.[7] It is the site of research in a broad range of fields including paleontology, biology, pedagogy, robotics, and machine learning.
History
Establishment of Erindale College
The former Erindale Public School, now known as Alumni House.
In the early 1960s, the University of Toronto sought to establish a new constituent college in Toronto Township (a former municipality now part of the city of Mississauga) west of Toronto and Etobicoke. The university purchased a 150 acre area in a village called Springfield-on-the-Credit in 1963. This site was mainly farmland and included the former Erindale Public School and Lislehurst, the former estate of Reginald Watkins.[9] Construction of the college's first purpose-built building began in 1966, which was originally meant to be temporary. With the completion of the North Building, the site was officially opened as Erindale College in September 1967, with an inaugural class of 155 students.[10]
During this time, it operated in affiliation with the Faculty of Arts and Science as "the U. of T.'s western off-campus college."[11] In 1969, the college hosted the first showcase of Moon rock samples in Canada.[12] In 1970, it saw its first graduating class, which consisted of 70 students.[13]
Architect Raymond Moriyama was comissioned to create the original Campus Master Plan, which originally envisioned one "central mega-structure" on the bank of the Credit River that would preserve the surrounding natural environment.[14] Construction on the South Building was completed in 1973, which followed Moriyama's vision of a large, megalithic structure.
Turn of the century and renaming
The period which followed the opening of the South Building saw Erindale College maintaining a slow and steady growth. It eventually came to be known as the University of Toronto at Mississauga, which was the origin of the commonly used abbreviation "UTM."
In 1992, the Kaneff Centre was opened, named after benefactor Ignat Kaneff. The building was originally horseshoe-shaped with open green space in the middle.[15] The Student Centre was opened in 1999. Located right in the centre of campus, it serves as the headquarters of the University of Toronto Mississauga Students' Union (UTMSU), The Medium newspaper, and various student clubs and societies.
In 2003, UTM became an independent division of the university separate from the Faculty of Arts and Science, officially called the University of Toronto at Mississauga.[2]
The turn of the century saw substantial growth in the campus's student population. The campus expanded with the addition of several large academic buildings, including the Communication, Culture and Technology (CCT) Building in 2004; and the Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre (RAWC) in 2005. New residence halls Erindale Hall in 2003 and Oscar Peterson Hall were completed in 2007.
In 2007, it was re-branded as the University of Toronto Mississauga.[1] In the same year, the campus celebrated its 40th anniversary, a milestone which was capped off with the grand opening of the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre and new campus library on June 2, 2007.[16]
2010s–present
The 2010s saw the campus begin to grow by approximately 1000 students every year, a rate which it still maintains as of the mid-2020s. More buildings were under construction to accommodate the student population, and older ones saw major renovations to modernize the spaces. New buildings were designed to be modern, both in appearance and their prioritization of sustainability. These included the Instructional Centre and Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex in 2011.
The Innovation Complex Rotunda in the Kaneff Centre.
2014 saw a $35-million expansion of the Kaneff Centre. The opening of the Innovation Complex, which shares the same address as Kaneff, coincided with the establishment of the Institute of Management & Innovation (IMI), an academic unit which provides interdisciplinary graduate programs in business management including a Master of Business Administration.
In April of that year, the UTM Eagles team became the 30th member of the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA).[18] The Varsity athletics program included badminton, cross country, and men's and women's indoor soccer.
During this time, plans were developed to replace the North Building, which had remained since the campus opened in 1967. The building began to be demolished, where it was replaced by Deerfield Hall: phase one of the reconstruction. The remaining North Building was fully removed by 2015, where some of its materials were repurposed to build phase two: dubbed the New North Building, a large, modern, six-storey structure in its place.
In 2017, the campus celebrated its 50th anniversary, a milestone that coincided with Canada's sesquicentennial.[19] Phase two of the North Building reconstruction was finished in 2018 and officially named Maanjiwe nendamowinan (an Anishinaabemowin term meaning "gathering of minds") in 2019 following input from the campus community and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
The UTM Eagles varsity program stopped competing in 2020 following the temporary suspension of OCAA athletics, and the program did not resume when the OCAA resumed competition. The program formally ceased operations following the 2021–22 academic year.
In 2022, Amazon Prime Video began filming a spin-off series of The Boys titled Gen V. The Mississauga Campus was used as the primary filming location, as the series surrounds a fictional university for superpowered individuals called Godolkin University. The series returned to film for its second season in 2024.[20]
As of 2025, a new six-storey, 116,560 square foot residence hall is under construction, expected to add 400 beds with an opening date at the start of the 2026–2027 year.[21] This project is part of the 2021 Campus Master Plan to transform the Mississauga Campus looking ahead to 2036: with new and upgraded pedestrian and biking infrastructure, outdoor gathering spaces, and academic and residence buildings.[22]
A panoramic aerial view of the Erindale neighbourhood with the Mississauga campus on the left and the skyline of Mississauga City Centre in the background.
The campus is located in Erindale, a neighbourhood in west-central Mississauga on a large, forested lot of protected Greenbelt land. The area is bounded by Mississauga Road to the southwest, Dundas Street to the southeast, Burnhamthorpe Road to the northwest and the Credit River to the northeast. The nearby suburban neighbourhood, the Mississauga Road area and the Credit Woodlands, is a fairly affluent section of the city.
The largest campus building, the William G. Davis Building (formerly the South Building), was built as a megalithic structure, predominantly out of concrete, as was typical of the brutalist architecture style of the late 1960s. It was one of architect Raymond Moriyama's first major commissions. The Davis Building has since expanded along with the addition of many more buildings over the decades following an increase in enrolment at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) Building, designed by Saucier + Perrot, was opened in September 2004. It is characterized by a black and glass exterior. The interior is finished in concrete and gray paint, with black plastic melamine on many surfaces. The Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre (RAWC), designed by Shore Tilbe, opened in 2006.
The Health Sciences Complex, home to the Mississauga Academy of Medicine.
The Mississauga Academy of Medicine is housed across two floors inside the Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex, which contains classroom spaces, seminar rooms, computer facilities, learning spaces and laboratories.[23] Students are provided with fully equipped student lounge and outdoor terrace to relax and socialize. Students are able to share lectures and learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom through advanced technologies.[23]
In 2013, $1 million dollars was spent on constructing a large stone monument at the entrance way to the campus, along with general repairs to nearby sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, lighting, and electrical equipment. The stone monument became the centre of a controversy, with an almost universally negative reaction from students due to what was seen as excessive expenditure and lack of student involvement in the approval process, though the university said that a student was on the committee that approved the project.[24][25]
Deerfield Hall, opened in 2014
Deerfield Hall is part of the New North reconstruction on the northern end of campus. It features four storeys with theatre rehearsal space, computer labs, classrooms, offices, formal and informal study space and an expanded food services area.[26]
Maanjiwe nendamowinan[27] is a 220,595-square-foot, six-storey structure opened in September 2018.[28][29] The LEED-certified project cost approximately $89 million.[29] The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) on whose traditional territory the campus now stands, recommended Maanjiwe nendamowinan (pronounced Mahn-ji-way nen-da-mow-in-ahn), a formally endorsed Anishinaabemowin name meaning “gathering of minds.”[30]
The Innovation Complex is an expansion of the Kaneff Centre that serves as a multi-functional hub for academic, administrative, and social activities. The addition filled in the central green space within the Kaneff Centre and features a central rotunda, designed with warm-toned travertine and white oak, providing a gathering space for faculty and students which frequently hosts speaking events. It houses the Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI), which offers interdisciplinary business management education at the graduate level. The facility includes lecture rooms, behaviour research labs, and a mock trading floor, and is built to LEED Silver standards, incorporating sustainable features like a green roof and natural light harvesting. The building was designed by Moriyama & Teshima Architects and built by PCL Constructors Canada Inc.[31][32] It is also the location of the campus's registrar's office.
The new Science Building[33], which officially opened in Fall 2024, features energy-efficient wet lab biological and chemical laboratory facilities. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, the building incorporates sustainable systems such as a geothermal heating and cooling system, a rooftop solar photovoltaic array, and a rainwater harvesting system. Spanning 15,550 square meters over four stories, it created new spaces for faculty and student offices, gathering and conference spaces, and a high-performance data centre. The facility is linked to the adjacent William G. Davis Building and aims to help reduce the campus's carbon footprint by 2030.[34][35][36][37][38]
The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre and Middle Road
UTM earned Canada's first Silver Fair Trade Campus designation for the food and drink options provided on campus. Every new building at UTM since 2006 has been LEED-certified Silver or higher, and the Science Building as well as the Instructional Centre use geothermal heating.[39] Some buildings also use reclaimed rain water in their plumbing. UTM is a Gold-certified institution under the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS).[40] The University of Toronto was ranked the most sustainable university in the world in 2024 and 2025.[41]
Academics
Research
The campus is the site of several research centres in a range of fields. These include:
The Centre for Nonlinear Analysis and Modeling (CNAM) – a centre which studies the interdisciplinary field of nonlinear systems.[42]
Undergraduate programs unique to the Mississauga campus include the oldest forensic science program in Canada and a biomedical communications program, the only of its kind in the country.[51] The campus also hosts the Continuum Robotics Lab, a hub for robotics research on campus. The campus also offers a game studies minor that explores video games as cultural, artistic, and technological forms. Developed by the Department of English & Drama in partnership with the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (ICCIT), the program focuses on the analysis, history, theory, and design of games, emphasizing their narrative potential. This initiative was created by the acquisition of the Syd Bolton Collection,[52] Canada’s largest video game archive, featuring over 14,000 games and numerous gaming consoles and literature.[53][54][55]
Program of study
Undergraduate students at UTM complete their first year undeclared and apply to their desired program of study (POSt) before beginning their second year. Certain programs have limited enrolment and may require certain first-year grades, CGPA or a supplemental application for enrolment.[56]
Co-op Internship Program
In 2024, the campus launched the University of Toronto Mississauga Co-op Internship Program (UTMCIP) across five departments. Students in select programs can enrol in a stream which includes a 12- or 16-month internship.[57]
Academic units and program areas
UTM consists of several academic departments and institutions in a range of disciplines.[58] Below is a list of departments; those that offer UTMCIP-stream programs are marked with [CIP]:
Department of Anthropology
Department of Biology [CIP]
Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences [CIP]
Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (ICCIT) [CIP]
Department of Economics [CIP]
Department of English & Drama
Institute of Forensic Sciences
Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment
Department of Historical Studies
Department of Language Studies
Department of Management (UTMM) [CIP]
Department of Mathematical & Computational Sciences [CIP]
Department of Philosophy
Department of Political Science
Professional Accounting Centre
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Department of Sociology
Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities
Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy (ISUP)
Centre for Urban Environments
Department of Visual Studies
Environment Programs
Women and Gender Studies Program
Graduate
The University of Toronto hosts graduate programs across all three campuses including U of T Mississauga.[59] Unlike undergraduate programs, many of them are organized in collaboration with faculties and departments across the university, such as the Faculty of Arts and Science and Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Below is a list of the areas of study available at UTM:
Management (Institute for Management & Innovation)
Mathematics
Physics
Psychology
Sociology
Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre
The Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (RGASC) is a hub for learning and teaching at UTM. It is located on the third floor of Maanjiwe nendamowinan, and offers workshops, facilitated study groups, and skill-development appointments for all students, specifically in writing, math & numeracy, and study skills.
Student life
William G. Davis Building Meeting Place
Campus dining and lounge spaces include The Student Centre, two Starbucks locations in the Library and Deerfield Hall, a Second Cup Cafe location in the Kaneff Centre, the Davis Building's Meeting Place and Food Court, Oscar Peterson Hall's Colman Commons, CCT's Circuit Cafe, and the IB Court dining and lounge area, among others.[60][61] There are also various outdoor patio and seating areas.
The UTM student centre offers a variety of events and programs available to students.[62] The Blind Duck Pub, located in The Student Centre, is popular eating spot on campus[63] where students and staff are able to socialize.[60][64] The Blind Duck Pub also hosts many student events including the First Pub, Last Pub, and Halloween Pub where various artists such as Shawn Desman and Mia Martina have performed.[65] Students can find on-campus employment opportunities[66] at the Blind Duck Pub as it is owned and operated by the UTM Students' Union.[64] Events offered to students include movie nights held every Monday evening,[67] occasional guest speakers,[68] and a variety of other events run by the student centre.[62] The student centre also houses other student organizations including the UTM student newspaper, a campus radio station, the UTM Student Union, and numerous other student clubs.[62]
In 2024, UTM opened the newly renovated Student Services Hub on the main floor of the William G. Davis Building. This space serves as a "first stop" for students seeking resources and support, uniting several essential services, including the Career Centre, Accessibility Services, and the International Education Centre. The Hub features a central service desk, an expanded career exploration resource area, and various workshops and meetings spaces.
The campus is home to CFRE-FM, broadcasting twenty-four hours a day at 91.9FM out of the Student Centre. With a focus on Canadian and independent music, students and community members are encouraged to apply for a show, as no experience is required. There is also a student newspaper, The Medium.[69]
The main practice facility of the Toronto Argonauts football club was located on campus until 2014.[70]
Students who contribute much to student life are recognized through various awards including the University of Toronto Student Leadership Awards (UTSLA)[71] and the UTM Student Leadership Awards.[72] Students can also receive awards for their involvement and academic excellence through individual academic departments, such as the Department of Political Science's Most Promising Theory Student award.[73] In addition, the Centre for Student Engagement and UTM Student Union reward successful student groups by hosting yearly award ceremonies and galas for student clubs and societies that have excelled throughout an academic year.[74][75]
Athletics
The Recreation Athletic and Wellness Centre (RAWC), attached to the Davis Building, expanded the Campus Rec Intramural Program in 2006–07.[76] The RAWC supplies sports equipment for drop-ins with a student card or membership. These sports include basketball, soccer, volleyball, table tennis, and racquet sports. In addition to these sports, the Centre offers organized classes in dance, martial arts, yoga, and swimming.[77] There are two gymnasiums, one North American-sized squash court, two international-sized squash courts, one pool with a whirlpool on deck, and a fitness and training centre, among other studios and multipurpose rooms.[78] The RAWC hosts frequent drop-ins for students to play sports casually.
The University of Toronto runs an annual Tri-Campus Intramural League where UTM students compete against teams from the other two campuses. Teams include men's ice hockey, men's outdoor soccer, men's indoor soccer, women's basketball, women's indoor soccer, and women's volleyball.[79]
Varsity Sports
University of Toronto students from all three campuses, including UTM, can participate in varsity sports through the Varsity Blues, which are based at the St. George campus.[80]
Residence
UTM houses over 1,600 students in residence and guarantees housing to those in first year. Undergraduate residences include Oscar Peterson Hall (OPH), McLuhan Court, Putnam Place, Leacock Lane, Roy Ivor Hall, Erindale Hall, MaGrath Valley, and Schreiberwood. First-year residence includes OPH, McLuhan Court, Roy Ivor Hall, Erindale Hall, MaGrath Valley, and Schreiberwood. Upper-year housing includes Putnam Place and Leacock Lane.
OPH is a traditional-style residence with single rooms and shared bathrooms. Colman Commons, located in OPH, is the main dining facility for students living on residence. Putnam Place and Leacock Lane are townhouse-style residences with four single rooms, one bathroom, a living room and a kitchen per house. Roy Ivor Hall and Erindale Hall are first-year apartment suites with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen per suite. Each bedroom in Erindale hall is a double bedroom while each bedroom in Roy Ivor hall is a single bedroom.[81] Each residence is fully equipped with laundry machines and common lounges.[82]
UTM held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new student residence scheduled to open in 2026. Located next to Oscar Peterson Hall, this residence will be UTM's first new housing facility since 2007 and is part of a tri-campus initiative to add 1,446 new student housing spaces. The building will feature 115 single bedrooms, 135 double bedrooms, and 15 rooms for support staff, totaling 400 beds and covering 116,560 square feet and six stories. It will include study spaces, lounges, laundry facilities, and areas for social programs, increasing UTM's housing capacity to approximately 1,900 students. Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Christensen & Co., the residence is harmonized with UTM's natural ravine setting, featuring wood and stone cladding at the podium and copper-toned aluminum on upper levels. It aims for LEED Silver certification, incorporating eco-friendly systems such as solar panels and water-efficient fixtures, and aligns with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This project is part of UTM's 2021 Campus Master Plan, which includes plans for enhanced outdoor spaces and improved cycling infrastructure.[83][84][85]
Theatre
Erindale Studio Theatre
The Erindale Studio Theatre is a black box theatre with an audience capacity of up to 85 people, depending on the stage configuration. The building itself was formerly a bus garage and science lab, but was converted into a theatre in 1993. It has a modern lighting and audio system, as well as a full carpentry shop, costume shop, box office and painting facilities.
Theatre Erindale is a theatre production company at UTM for students in the joint Theatre and Drama Studies program with Sheridan College. The company presents a season of 5 plays in the Erindale Studio Theatre.[86] These plays include classics, modern pieces and a yearly collective developed by the third year class. Several shows have been included in the Ontario Arts Review Top 10 List since 2005.[87] The season's shows are also supported by students of the Technical Production program at Sheridan College who do placements in stage management, lighting operation, and sound operation.
MiST Theatre in the CCT Building
The Multimedia Studio Theatre (MiST) is a modern, flexible theatre space used as a venue for drama lectures, performances by touring companies, independent student productions, Theatre Erindale's annual Beck Festival of student-directed performances, and the UTM Drama Club's annual production. The Blackwood Gallery on campus has used MiST on several occasions for receptions, conferences, and art exhibits.[88] The theatre is contained in the CCT building and designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes.[89]
Blackwood Art Gallery
Mississauga's first public art gallery was established on campus in 1969 as the Erindale College Art Gallery. It was renamed in 1992 as The Blackwood Gallery in honour of Canadian artist David Blackwood who was artist-in-residence at UTM from 1967 to 1973. The gallery, located in the Kaneff Centre, collects, maintains, preserves, and exhibits over 450 works of UTM's permanent collection, and exhibits student work from the Art & Art History Program at Sheridan College and UTM.[90][91] It also maintains numerous light box art exhibits around campus.
The U of T Mississauga Students' Union (UTMSU) represents the interests of the undergraduate students at UTM and hosts various clubs and events. A wide variety of clubs exist, representing students in a range of religions and cultures.[92] These include the Arab Students for Peace and World Change, Muslim Student Association, Christian Unity Association, Erindale College of African Student Association, and Chinese Students and Scholars Association (UTMCSSA). The UTMSU also offers many clubs that represent student hobbies such as Music Club, Drama Club, Anime Club, Cricket Club, Cycling Club and many more.[93]
At UTM, almost every academic department has an academic society. These societies are student-led, faculty-endorsed organizations that focus on a specific program area. Students are able to work with others who are enrolled in the same program where they can discuss and participate in a variety of academic goals.[92]
The UTMSU organizes frosh week, an event held annually aimed at welcoming first year students into the university.[94] Hosting approximately 1,200 students every year, UTM frosh week offers a variety of events and activities meant to introduce students to university life and allow first year students to meet other incoming students.[94] Frosh week events are held both on and off the UTM campus.[95] Featured at the 2011 frosh week Shawn Desman performed for students at The Blind Duck.[94] Other frosh week activities included off campus visits to Medieval Times, Canada's Wonderland and the U of T St. George campus.[95]
Demographics
The Mississauga campus comprises 17 per cent of the University's student enrolment as a whole, with about a quarter as many students as the St. George campus. The UTM gender ratio is more balanced than St. George at the undergraduate level, however there is a notably higher proportion of female students at the graduate level. UTM also has the smallest proportion of international students of the three campuses with 25.7 per cent, as opposed to 29.0 per cent at UTSG and 30.7 per cent at UTSC.[96]
There are various city bus routes that stop at the campus, the majority of which are operated by MiWay, the city of Mississauga's transit agency. These include express routes that run on weekdays to connect the campus to places such as Mississauga City Centre. GO Train connections can be made using express routes to Clarkson and Kipling on the Lakeshore West and Milton lines respectively, among others. The latter station also provides access to the Toronto subway.[98]
John Tuzo Wilson – former Principal of Erindale College, geophysicist and geologist known for his contributions to the theory of tectonic plates, former Director General of the Ontario Science Centre
Daniel Zingaro – Associate Professor (Mathematical & Computational Sciences) specializing in computer science education and online learning[107]
Jessica Burgner-Kahrs – Associate Professor and roboticist (Mathematical & Computational Sciences), director of the Continuum Robotics Lab on campus
Tanjim Hossain – Chair of the Department of Management, Professor of Marketing at UTM and Rotman known for research in behavioural economics and industrial organization[108]
Henry Halls – Professor Emeritus (Chemical & Physical Sciences) known for research in geophysics and tectonic plates[109]
↑ Tran, Phuong M.; Batacharya, Sheila (June 2023). "Using CLA pedagogy to examine an asynchronous supplemental English for academic writing program: Curriculum design and pilot results". Journal of Second Language Writing. 60 101020. doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2023.101020.
↑ Scott, Alec (16 March 2010). "Poet in Motion". University of Toronto Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
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