U of T Mississauga campus gets new science building and Indigenous office

As students return to school this fall, they will see changes at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus.

Three developments are currently underway or complete — a new science building, renovations to create a new student services hub, and a new office for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

The new science building is under construction on the west side of the U of T Mississauga campus, according to a news post on U of T Mississauga’s website.

“When it opens in June 2023, it will expand U of T Mississauga’s wet research capacity while adding faculty, administration and graduate student space,” the posts reads.

There are also renovations underway on another space.

A library space in the William G. Davis building will become a new student services hub. This space is also slated to open in the summer of 2023. The hub will bring together student affairs groups, the International Education Centre, Career Centre, Accessibility Services and Centre for Student Engagement. 

A new office for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) opened this summer in the Maanjiwe nendamowinan building in the north area of the campus. The Maanjiwe nendamowinan building is a six-storey, 210,000-square-foot building that opened in 2018.

The office is a place for MCFN council members to meet, plan and execute research. The activities include sharing Indigenous knowledge through the second-year undergraduate course called Anthropology and the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island.

“I give special recognition to UTM for constructing a physical office space for the Mississaugas of Credit,” says MCFN Councillor Veronica King-Jamieson, who is the community’s pillar lead for education and awareness.

She says this development helps with “recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples, which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources.”

A window mural called Kiinwin Dabaadjmowin, or “Our Story” by Indigenous artists Philip Cote and Tracey Anthony, features prominently in the new office. It depicts the creation story of the Anishinaabe people, and reflects the life of Indigenous Peoples before, during and after colonization.

Nearby on the campus green, the Indigenous Centre has erected another new point of interest – a tipi for use in ceremonies, learning opportunities and events. It will remain in front of the Maanjiwe nendamowinan building until April 2023.