On October 31, UTSC held its annual fall Town Hall. The Town Hall included presentations and updates from various UTSC Offices about construction plans, changes to the UTSC Campus Farm, budget changes, and student enrolment data, as well as a Q&A session at the end. 

Expanding UTSC

The Town Hall started with Chief Administrative Officer Andrew Arifuzzaman sharing updates from the Office of Business, Operation, and Strategic Affairs. He shared updates about various construction projects at UTSC, such as plans to have the Sam Ibrahim building completely finished by January 1, 2025. 

Arifuzzaman mentioned there have been delays and challenges with progress on Indigenous House, a future Indigenous space set for completion by summer 2025. Meanwhile the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) — UTSC’s future medical school — is making good progress and is set to open in 2026. The Retail and Parking Commons, a future parking garage to expand campus visitors, is set for completion in the summer of 2026 and will include a tunnel connected to the Sam Ibrahim building. 

Arifuzzaman said that the construction of SAMIH has led to difficulties with parking and long queues at stoplights and that he is in conversation with the city council to optimize signals. He also said there will be increased Toronto Police Service presence to give people tickets for turning right on Ellesmere Road from Military Trail Road.

Campus Farm

Arifuzzaman then shared updates about the Campus Farm, a vacant 10-acre site dedicated to teaching, research, and community engagement at UTSC. He said that the critical issue with the farm is a lack of infrastructure and accessibility, adding that the Master Plan for the farm will include an accessible asphalt roadway, parking areas, surface trails, and to bring power to the aboratorium. 

“The engagement process [with the farm] will include staff and faculty and their uses, the Indigenous community, and the land itself,” said Arifuzzaman. 

He also shared that UTSC is in conversation with the city council regarding to the Meadoway Project, led by the Toronto and Region Conservative Authority, which will create a 16-kilometre stretch of greenspace and meadowland between the Don Valley Parkway and the Toronto Zoo. Since the Meadoway Project would come close to the Campus Farm space, Arifuzzaman said that there has been conversation about putting up fencing to keep the farm separate as a campus space from the city space. 

During the Q&A session of the Town Hall, one student asked whether construction would cause disruptions to the farm’s functioning, mentioning that they consider access to nature a fundamental part of education. 

Arifuzzaman responded that no major disruptions other than the Meadoway Project’s construction in the summer would occur, and that only certain areas of the farm would be affected at a given time.

Many U of T community members have been concerned about the future of the farm ever since the decision was made to not renew Farm Coordinator Béatrice Lego’s contract. 

International student caps

Arifuzzaman mentioned that, currently, UTSC is looking for funding sources to implement the Master Plan, given that caps on international students have resulted in budget cuts. The projected impact is a $23 million decrease overall.

“We are already undertaking a reduction of non-critical spending,” said Arifuzzaman. 

Vice-Principal Academic and Dean Karin Ruhlandt then shared that student enrolment at UTSC grew by 11 per cent from last year. However, UTSC still fell short of its target enrolment by 600 students. The construction of SAMIH and its programs is expected to contribute to future enrollment growth. 

Lastly, Alison Mountz, associate vice-principal of research & innovation, shared that UTSC has a total research funding amount of about $19.9 million, a 40 per cent increase from last year.