Laurier recently opened an office in the heart of Toronto to transform and promote the university’s presence in Canada’s largest city. The office, on the main floor of the Exchange Tower, serves the many alumni and co-op students who live and work in Toronto. It also helps us deliver innovative programs, such as our weekend-format MBA, which has operated in Toronto for the past 12 years.

Partnering for Success
When Laurier opened its Brantford campus in 1999, few could have predicted the transformative impact it would have on both the city and the university. Yet this unique partnership has revived an ailing downtown, created post-secondary opportunities for thousands of students, and enabled Laurier to develop innovative new programs. What began with 39 students and one building has grown to nearly 2,400 students in 19 buildings. And the demand continues. Laurier Brantford is in the midst of building a $39.9-million Research and Academic Centre with the help of federal and provincial Knowledge Infrastructure funding. Additional projects are in the planning stages, including the redevelopment of two recently acquired properties. Projections suggest the Brantford campus could serve 4,000 students within five years. The success of Laurier Brantford highlights the role of a multi-campus strategy in transforming a city and enabling a community-minded university such as Laurier to “grow big while staying small.”

Kitchener Campus
Laurier’s Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work couldn’t be closer to the subject at hand. Situated in a beautifully renovated former high school in downtown Kitchener, students and faculty frequently interact with the people who benefit most from their knowledge and research. In 2009, the Faculty shared a community leadership award for collaborating with local agencies to provide social work training to new Canadians.

Milton Campus
As one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, Milton is keen to attract a university. The town, just west of Toronto, has invited Laurier to explore the potential for opening a campus there. An innovative campus in Milton could attract the funding needed to develop new programming that would be accessible to all Laurier students via state-of-the-art technology, while helping the province satisfy the growing demand for university access in the Greater Toronto Area.