The University of Guelph-Humber (UofGH) joined by Mayor Patrick Brown and Councillors shared exciting updates with stakeholders about the potential relocation of the University of Guelph-Humber campus to downtown Brampton. The event was held at the BHive, Brampton’s innovation and entrepreneurship incubator, and is the first of a series of small events to share news and updates with community members and consult with diverse stakeholders.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, along with and members of City Council Rowena Santos, Paul Vicente and Harkirat Singh highlighted their support for the potential move of UoGH to Brampton and its potential to transform the community.
“We believe having the University of Guelph-Humber move to Brampton would be a catalyst for our Council to advance our commitment to postsecondary education in Brampton, aligning well with other post-secondary offerings, providing more choice to our residents and providing highly skilled talent for local businesses,” said Mayor Patrick Brown. “That’s why, we as a Council, passed a motion to direct staff to work with the University of Guelph-Humber to begin negotiations. This is our opportunity to have a university right here in Brampton!”
Councillors Paul Vicente and Rowena Santos also spoke, highlighting their excitement about the project.
“As Councillors for the downtown, we know this project will completely transform our downtown, developing our city into a major education and innovation hub.” said Santos and Vicente. “This project would bring 5,000 students to the downtown core as part of the Innovation District, increasing the investment in our businesses and stimulating the local economy.”
Councillor Harkirat Singh is very excited about the benefits to Brampton students and was on hand to express his support.
“Our students deserve the best opportunities for success and those co
me with access to high quality education and skills development options right here at home,” said Singh. “Many of the students at the current Toronto UofGH campus are from the Brampton/Peel region, so this project makes a lot of sense. It would keep students closer to home, reduce their travel time, save them money and they’ll get to learn at the state-of-the-art brand new Centre For Innovation.”
Dr. Charlotte Yates, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guelph and Chris Whitaker, President and CEO, Humber College made a presentation to stakeholders, outlining the benefits of the proposed relocation to the community and next steps in the project.
“UofGH was the first university in the province to offer students the opportunity to earn both a university degree and college diploma concurrently. 20 years later this unique partnership continues to produce highly-skilled and marketable graduates” said Dr. Charlotte Yates, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Guelph. “We are pleased to continue our work with Brampton Council and staff to explore the possibility of relocating UofGH to Brampton and unlocking the tremendous economic and social benefits of bringing an established University to the city.”
“UofGH has more than 400 employer partners in Brampton that provide students with work-integrated learning and on-the job experience built into all programs,” said Chris Whitaker, President and CEO, Humber College. “Ninety-five per cent of Guelph-Humber students are employed within two years of graduation.
The event was held at the brand-new incubator for foreign-born start-ups: Brampton Bhive. “As an innovation incubator helping start-ups from around the world to land and expand in Canada, we know how important a strong and skilled workforce is to the local economy,” says Vikram Kharuna, CEO of Brampton BHive. “Having education partners like the University of Guelph-Humber as part of the innovation district will bring so many opportunities for collaboration and growth.”
UofGH has more than 5,000 full-time students at its current north Toronto campus. The vast majority are domestic students from the GTA with less than 70 being international students. Current and future programs will complement Ryerson’s planned medical school and its cybersecurity research/innovation centre as well as Algoma University and Sheridan College’s existing programs.
