Humber Polytechnic

• 1. Introduction

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  Humber College became the stage for an unlikely milestone on the 2nd of February 2009. Students in a lab at the Rexdale campus had built a radio apparatus and used it to reach Sandra Magnus. She was orbiting aboard the International Space Station. It marked the first time any students had contacted an astronaut in orbit using equipment they had built and operated themselves. The college that produced that moment had opened in a single borrowed room just over four decades earlier. How it grew into an institution capable of that milestone is a question worth sitting with.

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• 2. From One Room

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  On Monday the 11th of September 1967, Humber College held its first classes. Gordon Wragg, the founding President, oversaw the opening at James S. Bell Elementary School on Lake Shore Boulevard West, a public school. The Lakeshore Campus began separately, with manpower retraining programs along the Queen Elizabeth Way in Etobicoke. In November 1968, the North Campus was ready for its official opening. Mayor Edward A. Horton of Etobicoke and Mayor Jack Moulton of York both attended the ceremony. Enrolment grew quickly through the early 1970s. Humber expanded its business and technology programs at both the North and Lakeshore sites. It soon enrolled more business students than any other institution in Ontario. Three-year cooperative programs arrived in technology and business. The institution eventually became Canada's largest college, with more than 27,000 full-time and 50,000 part-time learners. By the early 1980s, a weekend college was in operation for students who could not manage standard hours. The Queensway Campus at 56 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard had opened in 1968 and closed in 1989, as the college consolidated around its main sites.

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• 3. The Psychiatric Hospital Grounds

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  The Lakeshore Campus sits on the former grounds of the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital and the Lakeshore Teachers' College. When Humber took over the site, the college committed to keeping the grounds in good condition. It also pledged to maintain the park-like setting as a community asset for southern Etobicoke. Older cottage-style buildings remain in place across the campus. The Lakeshore Teachers College facilities were extensively reworked in the early 1980s. The L-Building opened in 2011 as a more contemporary addition among the heritage structures. In May 2013, artist Harley Valentine installed the sculpture Persephone in the L-Building's front plaza. The piece is named for the mythic Greek queen of the underworld. Lakeshore was also the site of a Canadian first. The college introduced a solar technology program here in response to a growing energy sector, becoming the first Canadian college to offer such a program. The campus now accommodates approximately 7,200 full-time students, with 400 of them living in residence.

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• 4. Twenty Countries and a Curriculum

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  Holland College in Prince Edward Island was the only other institution in Canada to carry the same designation as Humber in the early 1980s. Together, the two colleges were named National Centers for DACUM curriculum, an approach in which employers directly shape what students learn. Humber was also among the first Canadian colleges to bring computer applications into technology programs and to launch flexible manufacturing training. The college's international reach extended far beyond Ontario. Humber ran outreach programs across more than 20 countries. With support from the Asian Development Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency, it built what became the largest international program of any Canadian college. By 1987, that program had reached institutions across Africa and Asia. It carried the concept of applied tertiary education to countries that had not had it before. After the mid-1980s, the college's energy shifted toward arts and applied arts and toward its immediate community. Today, more than 9,300 international students are enrolled across Humber's programs. That figure reflects a different kind of global connection than the development work of the 1980s.

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• 5. On Screen and On Air

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  Building F at the Humber campus had an unusual visitor in the fall of 1980: a film crew. The production was The Last Chase, which reached cinemas the following year. In 1983, a larger production came to the Lakeshore Campus. The campus served as the setting for the first Police Academy film, released in 1984. The Police Academy series returned to Lakeshore for subsequent films in the franchise. Humber's relationship with broadcasting has been more enduring than its film appearances. The college holds the only CRTC campus instructional license in the Greater Toronto Area. Its station, 96.9 Radio Humber, is fully operational. The Digital Broadcast Centre houses Humber TV, Radio Humber, and all newspaper, magazine, and web production programs. The old Lakeshore Lions Arena at 300 Birmingham Street was converted into the Arts and Media Studio and opened in 2010.

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• 6. An Unlikely Graduate Roster

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  George Stroumboulopoulos completed the Radio Broadcasting program at Humber in 1994 and became one of Canadian television's more recognized hosts. Adam Copeland also studied Radio Broadcasting at Humber. He went on to build a career as a professional wrestler under the ring name Edge and later moved into acting. Nathan Fielder, the comedian, trained at Humber before developing a career unlike almost anything else in television. Francine Villeneuve came through the Horse Racing program and went on to become the first female Canadian thoroughbred jockey to win 1,000 races. Caity Gyorgy studied Vocal Jazz and won a Juno Award in 2022. Sidhu Moose Wala, the Punjabi singer, was also a Humber student. Doug Ford, who became Premier of Ontario, attended for two months. Herbert L. Becker studied Applied and Creative Arts in the Theatre and music stream, graduating in 1975. He later earned a Juno Award as an author, actor, and magician. Renee Percy, who completed the Comedy program, won the Phil Hartman Award. Greg Wells trained in Applied and Creative Arts with a music focus and became a record producer. The North Campus is home to one of only two Funeral Service Education programs offered anywhere in Ontario. That program dates back to the 1968-69 academic year.

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• 7. Becoming Humber Polytechnic

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  On the 29th of August 2024, Humber announced that it was changing its name. The new name, Humber Polytechnic, was meant to reflect a specific education model. The college described it as one that "combines deep, theoretical learning with applied, hands-on experience to foster employability, not just employment for graduates." The legal name, Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, remained unchanged. The rebrand arrived as the institution was operating across three main campuses and sites. The Orangeville campus had closed at the end of June 2021, following an announcement on the 25th of September 2019. A new International Graduate School in downtown Toronto replaced it. Humber now serves more than 86,000 learners. The North Campus in Etobicoke carries the largest enrollment. It accommodates approximately 20,000 full-time and 57,000 part-time students, with around 1,000 of them living in residence. On the 18th of April 2015, the campus opened the Learning Resource Commons as its main entrance. The 264,000-square-foot building has six floors and cost $79 million, with $74.5 million funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. B+H Architects designed the structure. The Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation, also at the North Campus, is a 93,000-square-foot facility for automation, robotics, systems integration, and applied research. The total cost was around $27 million. Of that, $10 million came from the Barrett Family Foundation. Another $15.5 million came from the federal Post-Secondary Strategic Investment Fund, and $1.55 million came from the Government of Ontario. The Centre for Urban Ecology, certified to LEED gold standard, is the only Platinum EcoCentre in Ontario. Its features include a green roof, passive solar heating, and a biofilter system. That combination is a concrete example of the applied, hands-on learning the Polytechnic name is meant to signal.

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