Unpacking what went into the rapid trajectory of a successful Canadian university

The successful ecosystem-enabling experiences that drive social innovation and entrepreneurship at a Canadian university were shared with South African institutions and stakeholders at the 7th Biennial Research and Innovation (R&I) Dialogue this month.

Professor Liss explained that growth at TMU had been advanced by the intentional and deep relationships developed by faculty, students and staff, all contributing to a thriving research environment.

He said: “A successful university of the 21^st century is measured by the depth, breadth and sustainability of its partnerships and collaborations regionally, nationally and globally. The extent to which the university is integrated into the socio- economic fabric of its region and country will be an important feature of these relationships.”

Institutions could achieve this critical integration by focusing on people and communities, involving them in a range of capacities and engaging with them through consultations and advisory roles to ensure these vital connections are formed, and sustained.

TMU opened with 250 students in 1948 to upskill tradespeople following World War II.

Over the next four decades they increased the range of programmes and became a polytechnic. They began granting degrees in 1971, gained university status in 1993 and began granting graduate degrees and engaging in advanced research in 2002.

Within 15 years, TMU had shifted from primarily undergraduate to comprehensive due to its growth and research activity, tripling its research funding between 2017 and 2022. Said Professor Liss: “We continue to push for excellence in our offerings, opening the Lincoln Alexander School of Law in 2020. The new School of Medicine will welcome its inaugural class in 2025, shifting TMU from a comprehensive university to a medical doctoral university.”

Today, TMU, enrolling more than 40 000 students, offers 62 undergraduate and 55 graduate programmes. The Canadian scholar attributed these milestones to exceptional people, the connections nurtured and the dedication to TMU’s special purpose of bettering society.

“We seek to connect with and contribute to our community. Our researchers partner with groups such as municipal governments and health care organisations – allowing for research and opportunity to be deployed in real world settings and to actively inform policy.

“We are city builders from our respected School of Urban and Regional Planning enhancing downtown Toronto — where the university is located — with the ongoing addition of signature buildings.” The community is served by meeting their revolving needs while TMU’s commitment to societal good is enshrined in its founding legislation that guides the goal agenda.

“We’ve developed a strategic research vision based on that purpose and our value. We use that vision to further our agenda by identifying key areas of focus and forming relationships that will support our goals and continue TMU’s long history of innovation.

“This strategic vision is supported by a suite of plans including our strategic research plan which sets our research priorities identifying four topics of interest.”

TMU’s plan highlights the need to engage and collaborate on local, national and international scales, working with other academic institutions, governments, non-profits, community-based organisations and industry. It is an agile framework to assess, respond to and position TMU to opportunities that further its goals.

“By using the strategic research plan as a tool, we can determine our strengths and weaknesses, and it has helped us to better understand ourselves. Our medical school journey was sparked when we realised that 44% of our research relates to health and wellbeing. This led to the development of a separate health strategy,” said Professor Liss.

He said the importance of planning lay in creating a living document that allowed one to reflect and return to and guide and engage, not just about where one was setting out to get to, but how one makes progress along the way. Planning also helped to set the stage for a framework for implementation, resource requirements and the steps that needed to be taken to ensure that plan was successful.

As a plan was subject to change, self-discipline was important as the plan also revealed what one is truly good at.

Regarding the School of Medicine, from nursing to bio-medical engineering, TMU had a depth of expertise and partnerships already in place and so began to scale up and accelerate this field, creating a health research strategy.

TMU had to create a narrative to distinguish itself from a group of medical schools with a longer historical record of accomplishments. Professor Liss served as chair of the first phase of this planning which, from the early stages, included community engagement and outreach activities.

They consulted with stakeholder groups, using collected feedback to inform their action plans. As 2025 approaches they’ve formed a number of advisory committees to continue that engagement and ensure the medical school is built with communities it will serve – from local residents to future students.

“By encouraging and enabling a wide variety of collaborations, staying true to our guiding values and using strategic planning tools, TMU is maximising its research impact that advances its evidence-based solutions for the benefit of all.”

Living its values meant addressing a legacy of harms impacting some of the Toronto Metropolitan University community members as a result of the previous name Ryerson University, and a legacy of commemorating the namesake Egerton Ryerson on campus.

“This was not an easy process but an important one. An approach was validated by the extensive public feedback gathered by a taskforce which studied the legacy and the need to change the name, providing support for the advancement of the historically under-represented populations on our campus – and historically disadvantaged populations including indigenous and black communities.”