Here at Trent Durham, it is all about a personal and purposeful learning experience that leads to transformative careers and lives for our grads.
Welcome to Trent Durham GTA
Welcome to Trent Durham Greater Toronto Area. Students tell us that – from the moment they arrived on campus – they had a sense of the intimate, supportive scholarly community that is Trent University Durham.
Join us on this virtual tour – and you’ll see why, here at Trent Durham, it’s all about a personal and purposeful learning experience that leads to transformative careers and lives for our grads.
Located just 40 minutes from downtown Toronto – Canada’s largest metropolis – our close-knit and welcoming campus community is known for its focus on teaching undergraduate students in small group settings, providing them with real-world experience, and a vibrant campus rich with opportunities to get involved.
Here, learning is key and questioning is crucial.
Trent Durham students build relationships with caring, committed faculty—gifted teachers who also happen to be top experts in their fields.
Our unmatched faculty-to-student ratio allows your professors get to know you, your strengths as a student, and your unique goals and dreams. Imagine what an edge this will give you when your prof writes you a letter of recommendation for a job or grad school.
At Ontario’s #1 undergraduate university – a title we have proudly held for nine consecutive years – a broad selection of academic programs combined with guaranteed career experience for every student, provides you with the theory and practice you need to succeed.
Care to explore opportunities to learn and grow on your terms—to transform your thinking and prepare for success—all right here in the Greater Toronto Area?
This is Trent University Durham.
Grow with Us
In-demand programs and unique joint-majors. Real career experience. And a close-knit campus community with all of the benefits of being on the doorstep of Canada’s most diverse city.
No wonder Trent Durham is expanding.
Opening just in time for your arrival – our new six-storey residence and academic building will enhance the outstanding student experience Trent Durham is known for. Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll have access to when the doors open.
You’ve probably heard that at Trent, residences are always integrated with academic space and administrative services. This creates a seamless transition from living to learning and connecting.
In our new building, 200 on-campus residence spaces (with all of the amenities) – more on those in the residence section of this tour – are housed under the same roof as state-of-the-art academic spaces, including modern lecture halls and classrooms.
Bright and modern group study spaces provide the perfect backdrop for you to engage and collaborate with fellow students – picture yourself completing case studies and discussion-based learning right here.
Like to connect while taking in a breath of fresh air? Our green outdoor courtyard will quickly become a space for some footie, Frisbee or just studying alfresco.
At Trent Durham, our sense of community is built by joining exceptional people with beautiful, intentionally-built spaces.
Join us here and become part of an extraordinary circle of scholars.
Residence: Your Home Away from Home
Starting fall 2020, you will be able to live on campus and experience all that Trent Durham has to offer 24/7 – this is your chance to be among the first 200 students to call our new residence home.
Can’t you just picture it? Waking up in your modern new residence room – checking out the view of Lake Ontario from your window while you say good morning to your roommate (or maybe you’ve chosen a single room and have the place to yourself).
You grab a hearty breakfast to go from the new campus eatery – just a stone’s throw away in the original campus building – It’s likely you’ll bump into at least one of your profs along the way – maybe even get a tip on that essay due next week…before taking in your first class in the new state-of-the-art lecture hall.
After class, you chat with a friendly staff member about an experiential learning opportunity in the community over coffee, then meet with fellow students to talk next steps for a group project. Up next, you head outdoors to take in some sun (and fun) in the new green courtyard.
That evening, you all catch the Go Train into downtown Toronto to see your favourite artist in concert.
Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?
We are excited to be making room for you on campus.
And, did we mention, that room is also guaranteed? Just apply for residence by the deadline and we will save you a room.
Through our unique self-selection process, you can also choose your room and even tell us what you’re looking for in that roommate.
Don’t wait. Apply for residence today.
New Campus Eatery
Food that fuels you. This is what you’ll find in our new on-campus eatery.
Made from scratch, locally-sourced home-style meals mixed with international flavours and leading green certifications.
It’s the perfect recipe for a second-to-none culinary experience at Trent Durham.
Created to provide our growing campus community – including our first on-campus residents – with delectable dishes, all with convenience in mind, our campus eatery will feature changing menus with meals prepared fresh and in-house by our own chef every day, seven days a week.
Bacon and eggs? Soup and a sandwich? Gourmet dinner options? Vegan, halal, gluten-free? Find it all here. Plus, a coffee bar, complete with free trade coffee, of course.
Trent Durham dining will also be green. Sustainable, that is. This eatery is made with the environment in mind.
Your Trent Durham meal plan is also portable and flexible.
Take it “to go” and use your plan at select restaurants around town.
What will your first meal be?
Light-filled Atrium
Our students describe Trent Durham as an open and welcoming environment. These are the same words they use to describe the Atrium.
This bright and airy space, located at the entrance to our original campus building, is a hub of student activity.
Couches and comfy chairs are perfect for hanging out with friends between classes. Group project to work on? Lots of tables available for you here to connect with fellow students or meet with a prof to discuss the latest lecture over coffee.
The Atrium also comes alive as one of the main event spaces on campus. Book launches, guest speakers, movie nights, cultural events, alumni mentor events that connect you with employment opportunities. They all take place right here.
Whether you’re using this space as a study spot during the day, or taking part in engaging evening events – you are sure to feel a strong sense of belonging here as the place where our community comes together.
Classrooms and Academics
Trent Durham is renowned as a university that puts teaching our undergrads first. We are also known for programs that emphasize social responsibility, as well as student satisfaction and engagement.
Here, we believe ideas should be discussed, not lectured.
Our low student-to-faculty ratio and smaller classrooms mean that your professors get to know you, and your strengths.
You are a name, a face and an individual here in our student-centred learning environment.
This creates a highly personalized educational experience – one of the many advantages of studying at our GTA campus.
Academic excellence is another. Not only are we the top ranked undergraduate university in Ontario, we are also #1 in Canada for scholarships and a leading research institution.
Interested in business? Our respected Bachelor of Business Administration degree in the renowned School of Business helps to lay the groundwork for careers in accounting, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship and HR.
Community placements and career-boosting hands-on experience are also at the heart of our programs, including Social Work, Child & Youth Studies, Teacher Education, Policing & Community Well-being and our new Journalism & Creative Writing program, just to name a few.
Whatever your interests, Trent Durham offers the degree for you. Psychology, Law, English, Communications, History, Computer Science, Philosophy, Media Studies, Anthropology, Sociology… they are all here. Can’t choose just one? At Trent Durham, you don’t have to, with an array of options and an unparalleled opportunity to create joint majors that differentiate you after you graduate.
And no matter which program you choose, you will benefit from the personal and purposeful approach to teaching and learning that Trent Durham is known for.
Picture yourself here, in our classrooms, and imagine the possibilities.
Science Lab
Roll up your sleeves and make incredible discoveries. At Trent Durham, there are spaces, places and people that encourage it.
Gain hands-on learning opportunities to complement lecture-based learning, no matter your program…from anthropology to psychology.
At the centre of on-campus experiential learning at Trent Durham is our fully-equipped science lab. The science lab offers you practical learning opportunities, as part of completing your science degree or exploring an elective and wanting to get your hands dirty (sometimes literally).
As an upper-year student you can use the facility and its equipment to conduct research and analysis, either for undergraduate work or completing important research alongside your professors who are leaders in their fields.
What will you unearth at Trent Durham?
Careerspace
While visiting campus, you will definitely want to learn more about Careerspace – our career centre and experiential learning hub.
Did you know that all Trent students are guaranteed to have a career-related experiential learning opportunity before they graduate?
Trent Durham is working hard to give you meaningful ways to put theory into practice in ways that will give you the upper hand as you enter the workforce.
Our location, conveniently located in the Greater Toronto Area, means that diverse placement, internship and co-op opportunities in Canada’s largest and most-culturally diverse metropolis are right at our doorstep.
Through Careerspace at Trent, students in all programs have the opportunity to tap into a wide variety of combinations of academic, in-class and practical career experiences with access to interview training, resume assistance and a list of companies ready to give you some real experience.
Let Careerspace show you the way to your own unique idea of success.
Computer Lab
Connect to the resources you need to succeed in our fully-equipped, on-campus computer lab.
This popular spot is used both as a teaching space as well as a place for students to access online resources available at Trent, and beyond.
Don’t own a laptop or forgot it at home or in your residence room? No problem. Hop onto one of the machines in the computer lab and you won’t miss a beat…or that assignment deadline.
The computer lab also has printers so you’re covered – no matter what your assignment or project needs.
Library
At Trent University Durham, the library could be described as the “spine” of the student experience.
These shelves – virtual and real stacks – are stocked with resources tailored to support your specific academic needs.
Journals, databases, e-books, media resources and an expanding array of digital tools – all here, and accessible at the touch of a tablet or keyboard.
You’ll find everything you need for research and assignments…no matter what the topic.
Our Durham library is also linked to the Bata Library on our Peterborough Campus so requesting materials between campuses is easy.
And if Trent doesn’t have what you’re looking for, either in person or digitally, our helpful librarian, faculty and staff can help you find it through interuniversity loans and other programs, linking you with resources at 14 other universities across the province.
Looking for a quiet space? The library has some great private study spaces too.
You can also access computers, adaptive workstations, microform reader, scanner and printer, not to mention WiFi access and electric outlets at each desk – all to keep you plugged in while you conduct your research.
From learning how to search online databases to getting tech support to seeking assistance with papers and other projects, these services – all offered at our on-campus library – make up a big part of the personal and student-focused experience at Trent.
Service Hub & Student Spaces
Excel and succeed in your university career with supports and services, all conveniently located right here on campus.
Schedule a one-on-one meeting with an academic advisor or career counsellor. They can help you select the right combination of courses to reach your goals.
Learn about scholarships, bursaries and all of the financial supports available by chatting with our financial aid team.
At Trent Durham you will find everything you need to develop new skills and independence and truly challenge the way you think.
Opportunities to get involved abound here too.
Learn to lead…in your community and beyond – become an academic peer mentor or orientation leader, explore student government or sign up for our leadership certificate.
You can also explore your interests while meeting new friends by joining one of the many student clubs and groups at Trent. Can’t find one that matches your passions? It’s easy to create your own here too.
Looking to take a break?
Around campus we’ve created dedicated spaces for silent study, meditation and reflection recognizing that students come from all different backgrounds and have diverse academic and cultural needs.
Take part in events such as yoga and meditation or art therapy for a convenient and productive opportunity to manage mental and physical health.
Whether you’re looking for a distraction-free environment to study, or a place to connect, you’ll find it here at Trent Durham.
We have everything you need to help you make the most of the transformative university experience Trent Durham is known for.
Athletics
Get moving. Find your fit. And be part of the 1Excalibur as a member of Trent Durham’s active student body.
As a student at Trent Durham, you enjoy automatic membership to all City of Oshawa recreation facilities, including the Civic Recreational Complex, right next door.
Fitness classes and equipment, indoor soccer stadium, pool, aerobics studio, and indoor track, tennis, squash and badminton courts – everything is right here, just steps from campus.
If you’re looking for some me time, head over to the gym, dive in to swim some laps or a get an extra push from a personal trainer.
If you’re looking to put the ‘me’ in ‘team,’ the Trent offers many intramural and extramural opportunities including soccer and dodgeball.
Trent Durham students seeking a more competitive option are also invited and encouraged to try out for the Trent Excalibur varsity teams at our Peterborough campus. Did you know that we have 12 varsity teams donning the green and white to compete with the Trent Excalibur at the highest competition in university sport? Rowing, rugby, lacrosse, volleyball, soccer, curling – take your pick!
Many athletes. One team. Together, we are all One Excalibur.
Explore Your New Hometown
At Trent, community extends beyond campus.
And beyond our GTA campus is a thriving and dynamic community, full of opportunity and experiences.
Trent Durham offers the best of both worlds: a smaller close-knit community feel right in the GTA, located less than an hour from downtown Toronto and all its big city amenities and conveniences – not to mention endless placement and career opportunities too.
Before you hop the train to Toronto, though, prepare to be amazed by the dynamic and transforming City of Oshawa– a place known for state-of-the-art sports facilities (also incredible concert venues), premier shopping centres and a thriving arts and entertainment scene.
Outdoor enthusiast? You’ll appreciate the Region’s natural beauty. This may be an urban centre, but it’s connected to stunning natural greenbelts through extensive trails. You can discover one of these trails close to campus and be at the shores of Lake Ontario within minutes.
It’s all here.
If you want to be close to the action while enjoying the charm of a smaller community, this is the place for you.