Thursday, May 8, 2025
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) officially broke ground to begin construction on its innovative new Student Wellbeing Centre. This addition to the downtown campus will consolidate the university’s well-being services under one roof, improving access for the university community.
The TMU student body committed to the creation of the Student Wellbeing Centre by agreeing to an updated health and well-being fee in a 2022 referendum.
“The Student Wellbeing Centre is at the heart of our vision for well-being supports and services on campus,” said Mohamed Lachemi, president and vice-chancellor, TMU. “It is no coincidence that our students have led the support for this project because at TMU, our students have a track record of being drivers of change.”
Beyond the significant investment from the TMU student body, interest and support from the community has been evident in the number of generous donations that have been given toward the building project. This includes donations of $1 million each from TMU Chancellor Donette Chin-Loy Chang, vice-chair and co-founder of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd., Richard Rooney and Ed and Fran Clark; Ed is the former CEO of TD Bank, director of Thomson Reuters and chair of the Vector Institute. Mark Bonham, executive director of The Veritas Foundation, is the latest generous donor, who committed an additional $1 million to the project.
The TMU Student Wellbeing Centre will be an eight-storey mass timber addition to the historic O’Keefe House, located at 137 Bond Street. On top of adapting an existing building on campus, the Student Wellbeing Centre will also feature multiple passive green roofs, further solidifying the university’s commitment to sustainability.
The centrally located hub will will eventually house services such as:
- Centre for Student Development and Counseling
- Medical Centre
- Health Promotion Programs
- Academic Accommodation Support
- Tri-Mentoring Program
- Thriving Innovations
- Consent Comes First and more all under one roof
Building design has been led by Hariri Pontarini Architects with support from Two-Row Architect for Indigenous design elements. Pomerleau has been selected as construction manager.
Featured image: (L to R) Krishan Mehta, Mark Bonham, Ed Clark, Richard Rooney, Jen McMillen, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, Mohamed Lachemi, Kien Azinwi, Saeed Zolfaghari, Sean Smithson, Siamak Hariri, Chris Moise and Vijay Thanigasalam. (Alyssa K. Faoro)
