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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Tech with a conscience

Ontario Tech is committed to creating an inclusive community of staff and students that supports and encourages individuals to address inequities and to provide a safe learning environment and workplace.

Through some of our programming, we also support industry and communities on their own journey toward greater equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within the energy sector.

Internally, Ontario Tech has several programs to strengthen EDI through staff, faculty and student education on topics like Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation and the evolution of program guidelines to support stronger diversity in both our faculty and student population. 

Community programs

We work in communities and with our partners to advance EDI goals, together.

One example is Ontario Tech’s Women for STEM program, which works to increase women's access to STEM education at the university. The program provides opportunities for female students to fulfill their potential in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based fields. Women for STEM is built on three pillars to engage and empower women: mentorship, scholarships and celebrating the achievements of women.  Our goal is to raise $2 million to provide 200 entrance scholarships and 600 in-course scholarships to women studying STEM over a 10-year period.

Most recently, Ontario Tech held its fourth annual Women for STEM Summit in October 2022 and raised an additional $52,000 for Women for STEM scholarships. More than 200 attendees heard from leaders who are helping their organizations and employees succeed and move forward from COVID-19.

Ontario Tech develops specific programs with industry, philanthropic donors and other funding to improve opportunities for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour and to strengthen gender equity aligned to the principles of Equal By 30 in Energy Transitions.  

This includes the Bruce Power Women in Nuclear Engineering Internship Program. As many organizations in the energy sector have committed to the Equal by 30 initiative, Ontario Tech and Bruce Power are addressing this with the internship program to support five first-year female nuclear engineering students each year with co-op placements for the duration of their degree.

Ontario Tech is committed and proud to include Indigenous values into the foundation of the university and its campus. Ontario Tech’s newest building located at the north campus location is Shawenjigewining Hall, which means “The Place of Kindness.” The building’s name was first determined by Dorothy Taylor, a Mississauga Anishinaabe Elder from Curve Lake First Nation and Rick Bourque, Abenaki Algonquin Nation, Mi’Kmaq, Lakota, and Maliseet, Traditional Knowledge Keeper at Ontario Tech.

Across Ontario Tech, in our faculties and through collaborative engagement and partnership initiatives at the Brilliant Energy Institute, we are listening and working to strengthen outcomes from energy projects and operations for equity-deserving groups.

Read more about Ontario Tech’s EDI programs and supports: