George Brown College is pleased to share its progress on the exploration of a potential Mount Dennis post-secondary education campus. We continue our commitment to city and community building by exploring the possibility of expanding our physical footprint to Toronto’s Mount Dennis neighbourhood in the Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue West area.
On April 27, 2022, alongside Mayor John Tory, Councillor Frances Nunziata and staff from CreateTO and the City of Toronto, we jointly stated our intention to work collaboratively to explore the feasibility of a post-secondary campus in the Mount Dennis area. We know this presents a powerful opportunity to work with members in a thriving community to help build a future that creates access and opportunities to education and employment.
We have made progress since the announcement, with several key activities to share as part of our continued exploration of this opportunity. We have:
- Selected AECOM Strategy+ as consultants to lead the Master Plan on the future of George Brown’s built environment, focused on effective planning and decision-making for short, medium, and long term, and discovering and understanding holistic community needs and values.
- Convened an internal George Brown College Property Development Committee whose mandate is to provide advice and guidance and to evaluate the best use options for George Brown College major properties to support the mission, vision, values, strategic priorities, academic needs, and financial sustainability of the college as well as to contribute to city building, community, and economic development.
- Engaged the George Brown College Property Development Committee to begin the early process of data capture, review and analysis to better understand the Mount Dennis opportunity and its alignment with George Brown’s Strategy 2026: A Roadmap to the Future.
- Continued to work closely with elected representatives of the Mount Dennis community, including close collaboration with Councillor Frances Nunziata, as well as members of the Mount Dennis Community Association.
In the coming months our plan is to:
- Engage with the Mount Dennis Community Association to learn more about the rich history and pride within the Mount Dennis area.
- Perform a needs assessment with internal and external stakeholders to continue to identify needs, gaps, and opportunities.
- Jointly undertake an analysis of potential campus site options in partnership with CreateTO.
George Brown is committed to undergoing a series of purposeful due diligence exercises to determine whether a post-secondary campus opportunity is feasible, and more importantly, will further advance the social and economic goals of the Mount Dennis community. As a college, we are deeply committed to this work and looking forward to continuing to engage with the Mount Dennis community.
