Lions quarterback Brett Hunchak headed to CFL training camp

York University Lions quarterback Brett Hunchak will be in Edmonton this summer to participate in the Edmonton Eskimos training camp as part of the CFL-CIS Development Program.

This is the second year in a row he will be part of the program, after spending time with the Calgary Stampeders last summer.

Also spending time at Canadian Football League (CFL) training camps this summer are Lions head coach Warren Craney and special teams coordinator Jesse Alexander, who will spend a week as guest coaches with the Montreal Alouettes, and offensive coordinator Kamau Peterson, who will be in Edmonton with Hunchak.

Hunchak, a 6-foot-3 pivot from Calgary, has spent two seasons with the Lions and put up numbers not seen in program history. Last year he started all eight games and finished fourth in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) with 2,085 passing yards, the most in a single season at York. He was also fourth in total touchdowns (12) and completions (156) and was seventh in completion percentage (60.9).

Last year Hunchak got to train alongside Bo Levi Mitchell, who went on to win the CFL’s most outstanding player award while leading the Stamps to the Grey Cup, and this year he will be with Mike Reilly, the 2015 Grey Cup MVP.

Hunchak will return to the Lions in August for his third season. Training camp begins on Saturday, Aug. 12, with their first game set for Sunday, Aug. 27 against the Western Mustangs.

Researchers inspire provincial policy change to aid employees in precarious jobs

Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background
Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background

Early this week, the Government of Ontario is set to introduce legislation updating Ontario’s Employment Standards and Labour Relations Acts in response to the final report of the Provincial Government’s Changing Workplaces Review (CWR) released on May 23. The most significant review of Ontario’s employment standards and labour relations laws and policies in a generation, the reforms are poised to shape workplace rights for decades to come.

Leah Vosko

York University researchers have played a key role in generating the research base for modernizing Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA). Professor Leah F. Vosko, Canada Research Chair in the Department of Politics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LAPS), together with Professor Mark P. Thomas, Director of the Faculty’s Global Labour Research Centre, in the Department of Sociology, LAPS, Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Eric Tucker, and Ryerson University Sociology Professor Andrea M. Noack prepared two background studies informing the CWR. One study examines the ESA’s many exemptions and special rules for certain groups of workers, and the other examines the Act’s enforcement. Along with papers prepared with York-based Postdoctoral Researchers, Rebecca Casey and John Grundy, these studies are cited extensively in the Final Report of the CWR and inform its recommendations for legislative and policy change.

Vosko serves as Principal Investigator of the “Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protections for People in Precarious Jobs,” a research partnership funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada in which Grundy, Noack, Thomas, and Tucker are co-investigators. Research emanating from the partnership sheds light on key weaknesses in the Employment Standards Act’s protection for people in precarious jobs. Studies produced by these and other research team members demonstrate the need to improve access to personal emergency leave for employees in small firms who are currently excluded from this standard; eliminate the lower minimum wage for students and liquor servers; strengthen the Ministry of Labour’s ability to hold employers responsible for employment standards violations; expand the definition of employees who are covered by the Employment Standards Act; and to combat the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

The Changing Workplaces Review’s final report adopts many of these recommendations,  revealing the policy impact of the Closing the Gap research partnership.  As Vosko notes, “One of our overarching goals is to produce an evidence-basis to guide the development measures for improving protections for people in precarious jobs, so I’m pleased to see a number of our recommendations appear in the final report of the Changing Workplaces Review. But our work isn’t done yet. We’ll continue to conduct research on identifying ways to strengthen employment standards in Ontario in the coming years.”

The Closing the Gap Partnership will present further results from their work at the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities in Toronto this week, and launch a new report on the enforcement of the Employment Standards Act at a policy forum in Toronto in late June.

Message from the president: Save the date for Community Citizenship Ceremony on May 30

York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri issues the following invitation to the University community:

In partnership with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), York University will be hosting a special Canada 150 Community Citizenship Ceremony. I invite you to join us on May 30, 2017 to mark Canada 150 by celebrating our newest Canadian citizens.

York will be joined by 40 new Canadians and their families, as well as special guest speaker and York alumna Helena Jaczek, Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services and MPP, Oak Ridges-Markham.

The Citizenship Ceremony takes place at 10:15am in the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre in the Accolade East Building, and will be followed by a reception in the CIBC Lobby.

If you are able to attend the celebration on campus, please RSVP.

I encourage you to be a part of this unique opportunity to celebrate Canada’s diversity, as well as Canada 150. I look forward to seeing you there.

Four to be honoured with teaching awards at Spring Convocation

the convocation stage

Four exceptional faculty members will be presented with teaching awards during York University’s Spring Convocation ceremonies.

The recipients have demonstrated exceptional and innovative teaching methods will be honoured with the annual President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards.

Award recipients Sabina Mirza, Andrea Davis, Alex Czekanski and Véronique Tomaszewski were selected by the Senate Committee on Awards for their significant contribution to enhancing the quality of learning for York students.

“These recipients exemplify the qualities of teaching excellence and innovation that have established York as a leader in 21st-century postsecondary education,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “On behalf of the University, I congratulate them on this achievement, and thank them for their commitment to enhancing student learning at York.”

Each award winner will receive $3,000 and will have their names engraved on the President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards plaque in Vari Hall.

Sabina Mirza
Sabina Mirza

Sabina Mirza, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education who is a teaching assistant in the Sociology Program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, will receive the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the Teaching Assistant category.

Nominated by students in the Interdisciplinary Approaches to Social Inquiry (SOSC 2000) and Families and Social Change (SOCI 3660) courses, Mirza is described as being a caring, meticulously organized and devoutly diligent instructor. The classroom environment created by Mirza is said to be a warm and welcoming environment where learning is exchanged rather than dictated and where equity and respect are practiced.

“Sabina is not just consistently well prepared; she is attentive to issues of emotional safety in the classroom – so much so, that event the quietest students who were initially too shy to speak mentioned how excited they were, come end of term, to engage in tutorial sessions,” writes one of her nominators.

Andrea Davis
Andrea Davis

Professor Andrea Davis is chair of the Department of Humanities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Davis is the recipient of the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the Full-Time Senior Faculty category.

She is also the 2012 recipient of the Ian Greene Award for teaching excellence and former interim director of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC). Her nominators describe her as a gifted and dedicated educator who commands great respect and admiration. “Dr. Andrea Davis is the epitome of an educator who works for the sake of teaching, and not vice versa. Her definition of teaching, one that consists of humility, passion, and altruism, becomes instantly transparent to all students for whom she serves as an educator, mentor, and model of black female professionalism,” writes one nominator.

“Professor Davis has contributed significantly to developing an innovative curriculum at York. She has mounted new courses in Black Literature and Black Women’s Writing that respond to York’s diverse student body, and is currently developing a new Certificate Program in Black Canadian Studies,” writes another colleague. “As a participant on teaching committees, coordinator of an interdisciplinary program, director of a research centre and graduate diploma program and, currently, chair of humanities, she has worked for collegial consensus and led new curriculum implementation initiatives.”

Alex Czekanski
Alex Czekanski

Lassonde School of Engineering Professor Alex Czekanski will receive the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the Full-Time Faculty category.

His nominators praise his work to build communities both inside and outside the Lassonde School of Engineering, his focus on student success and his efforts in creating innovative experiential learning opportunities. “Professor Czekanski is aware that we enter our programs with varying amounts of prior knowledge and he works to bridge the gaps. He offers things like workshops that help bring us up to the same knowledge base of our peers,” writes one of his many student nominators. “Professor Czekanski keeps class interesting is by incorporating his industrial experience with in-class guest speakers. From the field of engineering, we met practicing professionals at Hatch, Pratt and Whitney Canada. From York, we’ve met with an intellectual property manager, successful entrepreneurs, and even York University President Shoukri. The guest speakers motivated us by a discussion of the diverse paths they took to reach their current roles and what it could be like for us after graduation.”

Outside of his faculty-based activities, he builds bridges between Lassonde, other faculties and educational institutions. He was a part of the focus group working to redevelop Humber College’s Mechanical Engineering Education program. He is also very active building relationships with York’s Department of Design in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design. Through this collaboration, he created an annual Interdisciplinary Lecture Series, which brings international educational experts to Lassonde.

Véronique Tomaszewski
Véronique Tomaszewski

Véronique Tomaszewski is a contract faculty member who teaches sociology at the Glendon campus. An alumna of York University, Tomaszewski will receive the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the Contract and Adjunct Faculty category.

Nominated by her students, Tomaszewski is known for empowering her students to think critically, to be congruent with their deep values and she encourages them to become socially engaged. Students comment that she listens and pays close attention to their needs and encourages them to pursue their path to self-discovery and empowerment. In the classroom, she strives to mirror the real world by analyzing case studies from current events and news. She also makes an extensive use of social media. Her Moodle course sites, for example, blend with students’ reality and their increasing participation and expansion of social media.

“The impact that she has left will last long after I graduate,” writes one of her student nominators. “Véronique has exemplified the virtues and wisdom that my class would all like to embody as we enter the next stage of our identity development, and into our various postsecondary pursuits. We plan to bring the lessons of mindfulness and self-reflection that we learned during the duration of her class into our future endeavours.”

The purpose of the President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards is to provide significant recognition for excellence in teaching, to encourage its pursuit, to publicize such excellence when achieved across the University and in the wider community, and to promote informed discussion of teaching and its improvement. The awards demonstrate the value York University attaches to teaching.

Welcome to the May 2017 issue of Innovatus

Innovatus

Welcome to the last issue of Innovatus for the 2016-17 academic year.

This issue explores a diverse array of innovative stories devoted to teaching and learning at York University.

We begin with the announcement of the recipients of the President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards, the recipients are outstanding teachers and exemplify York University’s deep and enduring commitment to teaching, learning and the student experience. My congratulations to all of the recipients.

Will Gage
Will Gage

Continuing on, I have to admit that I am a bit envious of the professors and students who are taking part in the first Summer Abroad program at York University’s new EcoCampus located in the cloud rainforest in Costa Rica. Faculty of Environmental Studies Professor Ravi da Costa offers some insight into what they can expect from this adventure in learning.

York University takes great pride in its promotion of undergraduate student research. Innovatus speaks to one student about her experience and how it has changed her life.

Student creativity takes centre stage in a story about an Academic Innovation Fund project. York University has a deep commitment to academic innovation and this project is representative of the tremendous depth and diversity of the 2017-18 projects announced in April.

As part of the University’s deep commitment to teaching and learning, Innovatus presents a recap of the annual Teaching in Focus Conference. As part of the conference, I had the opportunity to host an inspiring panel on teaching and learning.

We have an interesting story on a very special experiential learning course affiliated with the Walls to Bridges program led by Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Professor Andrea Daley.

To round out our issue, there is a wonderful story on an effort by Faculty of Health Professor Eva Peisachovich, who is shaking up the traditional classroom with a human “simulation” exercise.

Since we launched this special issue of YFile devoted to teaching and learning, your comments and support continue to come into my office. I am very grateful for the story suggestions and your enthusiasm. We will be taking a break over the summer months and will return in the fall with a new lineup of stories devoted to the many innovations underway in the classroom and across York University.

Innovatus publishes once a month during the academic year. Innovatus is produced by the Office of the Associate Vice-President Teaching & Learning in partnership with Communications & Public Affairs.

As always, we are looking for unique story ideas. Share your experience with us through the Innovatus story form, which is available at http://tl.apps01.yorku.ca/machform/view.php?id=16573/.

Sincerely,

Will Gage
Associate Vice-President Teaching & Learning

Summer Abroad launches at York University’s Eco-Campus

Students take part in an exercise at the ecocampus
Students take part in an exercise at the ecocampus

Telling Professor Ravi de Costa that he has his head in the clouds is no insult; it’s simply fact.

de Costa, the associate dean of research for the Faculty of Environmental Studies; a handful of colleagues; and 53 York students will be spending time in May and June at York’s Eco-Campus, Las Nubes, located in a Costa Rican cloud forest, for the Faculty’s inaugural Semester Abroad program.

Students take part in a visit to an agricultural site located high in the hills of Costa Rica
Students take part in a visit to an agricultural site located high in the hills of Costa Rica

“Through Faculty fundraising over the past five or 10 years, we were able to purchase some land adjacent to the 120 hectares of rainforest given to us by Dr. Woody Fisher 20 years ago,” de Costa said. “We opened a new building there last year, and the director of the Las Nubes program and I applied for an Academic Initiative Fund grant so we could use the facility to expand our teaching program and provide students with some valuable international experience.”

The Summer Abroad program offers six intense 4000-level courses at Las Nubes from May 10 to June 24. The offerings are varied:

  • Environmental Arts and Food Sovereignty;
  • Conservation and Development;
  • Globalization and Indigenous Peoples;
  • Natural History;
  • Environment and Health; and
  • Protected Area Management.
York U students participate in a field course in the Las Nubes Rainforest in Costa Rica
York U students participate in a field course in the Las Nubes Rainforest in Costa Rica

Each course lasts about two weeks, with written assignments due afterward. Students are welcome to take one course or many, allowing them to earn “a good chunk of credits in a condensed period,” de Costa said. “The selection is designed to give students flexibility and choice along with their international experiences. The courses will be very hands-on and experiential and we’ll make sure the students have a rich experience.”

Adding to the richness will be the accommodations. Students will be housed in homestays with local farming families.

Mono Cariblanco (Cebus Capucinus) in the Los Cusingos Reserve, Costa Rica
Mono Cariblanco (Cebus Capucinus) in the Los Cusingos Reserve, Costa Rica

“Often, these families have children the same age as the students or younger, so it offers them good points of connection,” de Costa said. “Many of our students have been to the Caribbean before, but we’ll be far from the tourist areas. This region focuses on growing coffee, sugar cane and pineapple. It will give the students a very different picture of life in the tropics.”

The Lillian Meighen Wright Centre
The Lillian Meighen Wright Centre is the heart of York University’s activities in Costa Rica

Now that the semester abroad program is up and running, de Costa is having active discussions with other programs and faculties about offering courses at Las Nubes, too. He urges interested faculty to get in touch.

Ravi de Costa
Ravi de Costa

“Now that we’ve opened the centre, it’s important to make the most of it,” he said. “It offers a great opportunity for student across the university to travel and to learn from York professors at a York University campus.”

He envisions workshops, research and campus retreats happening on the site. The campus is also intended to be a community space, so the local population can access it as much as possible.

The campus is also a financial boon to the area and de Costa expects the activities at Las Nubes to inject about $100,000 into the local economy this year, something that will increase as the program grows.

“I am excited about the potential of Las Nubes and the possibilities,” de Costa said.

By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer to Innovatus

Academic Innovation Fund project taps into student creativity

AIF_Featured image
AIF_Featured image

Student fingerprints are all over the new Communities in Motion web platform that Parissa Safai created using her Academic Innovation Fund grant.

Parissa Safai
Parissa Safai

Safai, an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science (KHS), wanted to increase the visibility of the excellent community-based research — collaborative research in which all partners in the process share in and contribute to the production of knowledge – and the teaching and service that take place in the school. She chose a web-platform to make her point and involved a group of Kinesiology students and faculty and staff from across campus in creating it.

“We do a lot of innovative community-based research, teaching and service in our school, and it is never adequately publicized,” Safai said. “I wanted to raise awareness among the public, but among our students, too.

“Many students come to the Kinesiology program and think of research and teaching in the classic sense: in laboratories and classrooms. I wanted them to see how to take what we do in our ‘ivory towers’ and connect it to people’s daily lives.”

The result is a web platform that centres on “community-based research and knowledge mobilization with a focus on digital storytelling.” It includes:

  • sophisticated video infographics that highlight community-based research projects undertaken by Safai’s colleagues;
  • these same projects explained in digital stories created by undergraduate students;
  • short lecture-style video podcasts about academic themes created by York faculty and staff members; and
  • a student-compiled database of community-based non-profit organizations across the GTA that offer sport and physical activity programs; and
  • an appendix of text-based research and reports.

Safai hired a team of KHS students to explore five community-based research projects undertaken by KHS faculty.  Students researched these five projects and their data formed the basis for cutting-edge video infographics created by the digital media specialists from York’s Learning Technology Services unit. In parallel, the students took the same data and created their own digital stories to bring them to life.

For example, one video and story focus on the DSkate program, a project designed to make it easier for youth athletes with Type 1 diabetes to participate in sports. The student-created digital stories can be found on the web platform and also on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ws7tystHcHvRYig1ltO9w.

The KHS Communities in Motion YouTube channel also serves as a place to showcase additional digital stories created by KHS students in their courses. To date, 10 different stories are available online with more to come.


Above: A Communities in Motion video created by Monica Lee and Pegah Rahbar, students from the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University.

“They did it all themselves and I am floored by the amazing results,” Safai said. “It’s a technique [digital storytelling] that professors can suggest that their students use. It encourages digital literacy, as well as research skills and critical thinking and communication skills.”

The students were also the force behind the database of community sports programs that will be extremely useful to anyone planning to conduct community-based research.

“It was fascinating to see that there are many organizations that their objective is to promote exercise and healthy lifestyle without an intention to make a profit out of it,” said Arvin Ardakani, a third-year KHS student.

In creating the database and the digital stories, the students came to see the value of community-based research.

“Before participating in this project, I was unaware of the importance of community-based research,” said Pegah Rahbar, a third-year KHS student. “I realized how vital community-based research could be. In fact, in community-based research, the focus is on people, not merely producing knowledge.”

Safai is excited about the outcome of the AIF project.

“I hope this website will be a living entity that will grow, change and develop,” said Safai.  “Part of my role will be to promote it as a tool for learning about and conducting community-based research, teaching and service.”

By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer to Innovatus

Long-time donors invest in summer research awards for science students

Berna and Earle Nestmann
Berna and Earle Nestmann

The Faculty of Science has received a generous gift from long-time donors Berna and Earle Nestmann to support the Dean’s Undergraduate Research Awards (DURA), which fund summer research positions for science students at York University.

Berna and Earle Nestmann
Berna and Earle Nestmann

The Nestmanns have committed $100,000 over four years, through a tax-smart gift of stocks, which will fund a total of 22 DURAs. Their gift will start making an immediate impact, since it will fund five of the 19 students who were granted a DURA for this summer.

“Earle and I are delighted to be able to make a contribution to support this undergraduate research program,” says Berna. “As researchers, we have experienced and witnessed the far-reaching impact of research awards for undergraduate students, and for graduate students and post-docs who get the opportunity to become mentors and team-leaders. We are also convinced that an appreciation of the trials, failures, uncertainties, as well as successes of research promotes more questioning and critical evaluation of headlines and news stories that impact everyday decision making.”

The Nestmanns have supported students and programs at York University for 15 years, including the creation of the Nestmann Scholarship for graduate students in Biology and on-going support for the Science Explorations summer camps, both in the Faculty of Science.

RAy Jayawardhana

“I’m most grateful to Berna and Earle for stepping up to assist some of our most promising students, who will benefit enormously from the opportunity to get involved in frontline research with outstanding faculty members,” says Ray Jayawardhana, dean of the Faculty of Science. “Not only do these students further their knowledge and understanding during the summer, but they get to explore career interests and often continue their research the following academic year.”

Earle is a York University alumnus and former faculty member, as well as a member of the University’s Board of Governors. He completed his MSc and PhD at York University in the 1970s and served as a faculty member for three years in the Department of Biology before moving onto a scientist position at Health Canada. He is a recognized authority in toxicology and has extensive experience in regulatory issues and risk assessment. Berna also is a scientific consultant specializing in food toxicology and ingredient safety and regulation. They both work for their own company, Health Science Consultants.

York U hosts annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers

York University’s Department of Geography, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LAPS), will host CAG2017, the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG), from May 29 to June 2 at Osgoode Hall.

The theme of the conference is “Toward a Just and Sustainable World,” reflecting the values of the CAG, the Department of Geography and York University. It will feature more than 500 presentations from 600 delegates from more than 20 countries, and will be the largest annual general meeting held by the CAG.

Linda Peake
Deborah McGregor
Roger Keil

The opening panel of the five-day event features York faculty members Linda Peake (LAPS professor and director of The City Institute at York University), Roger Keil (professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies) and Deborah McGregor (professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies and Osgoode Hall Law School), who will present the opening panel “A Just and Sustainable Toronto?”

Steven Tufts, chair of CAG2017 and professor in York’s Department of Geography, said York will be represented at the event by more than 120 faculty, students and alumni.

“CAG2017 is a ‘big’ conference, not only in terms of the number of participants, but also the ‘big’ questions and ‘big’ problems addressed by leading-edge geographic scholarship,” he said. “Environmental degradation, racial and gender injustice and economic inequality often seem too monumental to confront. Our conference theme, ‘Toward a Just and Sustainable World,’ is both ambitious and optimistic. We are pleased that so many geographers have taken our call seriously and will present research that will move us toward a better world. Capitulating to inequality and injustice is unacceptable, especially in challenging times. The organizing committee is proud to be part of a conference and a discipline that is built upon hope and imagines the world as a better place.”

The conference will also include 500 papers and posters presented in more than 130 sessions over the five days, and two keynote lectures.

Eve Tuck, professor of critical race and Indigenous studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, will present the ACME Lecture “Can Reconciliation Take (Up) Place?” on May 30. Edward Struzik, an award-winning writer, photographer, university lecturer, Fellow at Queen’s Institute for Energy & Environmental Policy and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, presents the Wiley Lecture on May 31.

“The conference theme is very relevant to our contemporary world,” said Dan Shrubsole, president of the CAG. “Many recent events, such as the completion of the Truth & Reconciliation Report, and the signing of some U.S. Presidential Executive Orders that failed to comply with the UN Declaration on Human Rights, remind us of the need to acknowledge and resolve longstanding inequitable practices, and to immediately respond to practices and policies that fail to meet standards of fairness and sustainability.

“Our deliberations at CAG2017 will further the contributions that geographic research – basic and applied – can make to this honourable and important quest.”

For more information or to see the conference schedule, visit cag-acg2017.ca.

Explore the Bergeron Centre during Doors Open Toronto, May 27 & 28

Bergeron Centre

One weekend, once a year in Toronto, free and rare access to 150 buildings of architectural or historical significance is granted during a city-wide celebration known as Doors Open Toronto. The 18th annual Doors Open Toronto returns on Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28.

York University is participating in Doors Open Toronto and included in this year’s tour is the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence on the Keele campus. Also among the Doors Open destinations are buildings with connections to York University and the new subway station on the Keele campus.

Doors Open Toronto 2017 is part of TO Canada with Love, the City of Toronto’s year-long program of celebrations, commemorations and exhibitions marking Canada’s 150th birthday. Doors Open Toronto is presented by Great Gulf and produced by the City of Toronto in partnership with the Province of Ontario and the broader community.

Highlights of this year’s Doors Open Toronto

The Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd., Main floor
Saturday: 10am – 4pm, Last Admittance: 3:30pm

The Archives of Ontario
The Archives of Ontario

The Archives of Ontario’s purpose-built facility, located at York University’s Keele campus, is an excellent home to the heritage of the province. A large, bright reading room gives researchers access to a unique and multi-faceted collection that includes records dating back to the late 16th century. The expert reference staff helps visitors examine the second-largest archival collection in Canada, including everything from hand-written ledgers to electronic files, hand-drawn maps, architectural drawings, photographs, films and sound recordings. A state-of-the-art conservation lab and 12 storage vaults help us to preserve these records for present and future generations.

Visitors will be offered special behind-the-scenes tours that will include the Family Ties: Ontario Turns 150 exhibit, Reading Room, digitization facilities and feature architectural records in the Preservation Lab. Interactive learning activities for both children and adult visitors in the Spragge Classroom will be available, to engage those audiences with our collection in a fun and meaningful way. Additionally there will be a display of photographs and/or architectural drawings from the collections, showing Toronto architecture, including some buildings that will participate in Doors Open Toronto.

Aviva Centre, 1 Shoreham Drive
Saturday: 10am – 5pm, Last Admittance: 4:30pm

The Aviva Centre
The Aviva Centre

Canadian tennis enthusiasts know the Aviva Centre well. The sports and entertainment complex is home to the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, a prestigious professional tennis tournament organized by Tennis Canada. Centre Court holds up to 12,500 spectators, with 11 smaller outer courts. All twelve courts use a cushioned acrylic surface, the same surface used at the U.S. Open. When the best players in the world aren’t showcasing their skills at the Aviva Centre, the facility hosts a multitude of other events and serves as a year-round tennis training facility. Two creeks, a natural backdrop of wooded lots and a marsh surround the Aviva Centre and valley lands, which also lead directly to the York University Keele Campus.

Guests to Aviva Centre will experience what it’s like to be a professional tennis player. Aviva Centre will have fun and accessible tennis programming which will allow guests to hit balls and play games on Centre Court – the same court the world’s best tennis players compete on every summer. (All equipment provided.) In addition, guests will have the opportunity to take a photo with the Rogers Cup trophy.

Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, 11 Arboretum Lane, Keele campus
Saturday: 10am – 5pm, Last Admittance: 4:30pm
Sunday: 10am – 5pm, Last Admittance: 4:30pm

The Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence
The Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence

The Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence is a learning space for a new kind of engineer. The building has no lecture halls, which means students learn in labs, small groups, and active-learning spaces. The facade is constructed from 8,000 panels, each different and organized by a custom algorithm. The hallways, elevators, and common spaces are whiteboards, open to anyone who feels creative. Lassonde engineering students are Renaissance Engineers who combine their technical studies with skills in business, law and entrepreneurship. The Bergeron Centre is their home, an educational building for the next generation of engineers.

Visitors to the building will have the opportunity to tour the building with Lassonde student guides and take part in hands-on activities to see firsthand what it’s like to be a Renaissance Engineer. Guests can leave their creative mark on the whiteboards which cover the hallways, elevators, and common spaces.

Black Creek Pioneer Village, 1000 Murray Ross Parkway
Saturday: 11am – 4pm, Last Admittance: 3pm
Sunday: 11am – 4pm, Last Admittance: 3pm

Black Creek Pioneer Village
Black Creek Pioneer Village

Black Creek Pioneer Village offers a fascinating journey into the past. Black Creek is a working village, typical of those established in south central Ontario between the 1790s and the 1860s. Forty authentically restored homes, workshops and public buildings recreate the atmosphere of life in a rural Victorian community in the 1860s. Black Creek Pioneer Village is located adjacent to the Keele campus at 1000 Murray Ross Pkwy.

At Black Creek, the audience is invited to escape the modern world and experience Ontario’s rich rural heritage. Black Creek Pioneer Village is a working village, typical of those established in south central Ontario between the 1790s and the 1860s. See historical interpreters in period costumes demonstrate historic trades and crafts of the 1800s, visit farmyard animals, enjoy heritage gardens and explore exhibits in the gallery.

TTC – York University Station
Saturday: 10am – 5pm, Last Admittance: 4:30pm

The York University Subway Station
The York University Subway Station

Located in the heart of the Keele campus, this new subway station is part of the soon-to-be-opened Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension. The entrance features a distinct boomerang shape and two covered entry wings to the north and south. The finished metal roof is a cool roof that reflects the sunlight and absorbs little heat. With its large glass curtain walls, the station relies on daylight rather than electricity. The station also features public art and bird-friendly window glazing.

Visitors to York University Station will get a sneak peak of the station. This station is opening in December 2017 and is an impressive structure. Visitors will have access to the station, can take a self-guided tour, discover unique facts about the new station, how it was built and how it will operate, and talk to project staff and artists when available.