As the academic year kicks off, the UTM community saw the opening of the New Science Building and the Student Services Hub on campus. These new developments are accompanied by other significant changes at UTM — including an end to union efforts to expand the Student Centre and changes to UTM’s internship program. 

New buildings on the block

One of the most visible changes on campus is the finished construction of the New Science Building and the Student Services Hub. These facilities are designed to meet the evolving needs of students, faculty, and staff. 

The New Science Building — attached to the Davis Building — is home to the Medicinal Chemistry and Forensic Science department. This project has expanded the research facilities at UTM, introducing the SpinUp entrepreneurship lab space, lecture halls, and study spaces.

Notably, UTM’s new science facility maintains a low carbon footprint. 

The building falls in line with the university’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint to 37 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030. The facility uses sustainable energy systems, including a rooftop solar panel and an on-site ground-source heat pump field, which uses solar energy from the ground for heating. These features allow the building to be mostly run by electricity and with minimal reliance on fossil fuels. 

The new Student Services Hub — located across UTM’s food court — is a student’s one-stop centre for student resources. This hub consolidates student services originally scattered across campus, allowing students to better navigate academic support, guidance, and resources. 

The Hub includes Accessibility Services, a Career Centre, a Centre for Student Engagement, an International Education Centre, and the Health & Counselling Centre’s Health Promotion team — which consists of health promotion experts that provide resources, workshops, and events focused on overall holistic wellness to students. 

Student Centre expansion halted

Beyond changes to infrastructure on campus last year, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) faced backlash over their failed referendum to fund an expansion of the Student Centre. 

Of the 9.6 per cent of UTM students who voted, the majority voted against increasing fees for a larger centre due to concerns about inadequate planning and a lack of transparency. 

In an email to The Varsity, UTMSU President Joelle Salsa wrote that, “The UTMSU will not be advocating for or holding another referendum on a Student Centre [e]xpansion anytime soon.” 

Co-op Internship Program 

Another change to campus includes the UTM Co-op Internship Program (UTM CIP), which will allow students in certain programs to gain work experience. 

Students enrolled in UTM CIP do 12- or 16-month paid full-time work and gain “professional development and work readiness support before and during their work experience,” such as through the mandatory “Work-Readiness modules.”

The program is available for full-time students entering their second year in the departments of Biology; Chemical & Physical Sciences; Economics; Mathematical & Computational Sciences; as well as the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology. Entry requirements differ by department. 

Applications for the 2024–2025 year closed on August 23, and will reopen for 2025–2026 in March 2025.

With the launch of the program, UTM students will no longer take the Professional Experience Year (PEY) Co-op Program offered by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. 

UTM students in the Department of Mathematical & Computational Sciences currently enrolled in the PEY Co-op Program can continue the program but cannot transfer over to the UTM CIP. 

“All UTM students interested in co-op internship programming but not yet enrolled in the PEY Co-op Program will be directed to the UTM CIP going forward,” according to the PEY Co-op Program website.