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A university gets bigger without losing its centre

A new housing model proposes thousands of additional beds across the campuses, with the hardest work still ahead.

Rendering of a planned Harbord Street residence exterior.
CampusRendering of a planned Harbord Street residence exterior.Photo: COBE / University of Toronto

U of T’s Build More Housing Initiative proposes up to 5,500 new residence spaces through partnerships with builders. The first St. George projects would add more than 1,200 beds.

The numbers are large, but the lived question is intimate: whether a student can find a room, a neighbour and a place in the life of the university. The new model puts housing inside the academic story.

Sources 1
  1. Original reporting · utoronto.ca
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This story is from the August 2026 issue of Alumni Digest · U of T. It's free, monthly and independent.

Alumni Digest is independent and is not an official University of Toronto publication. Stories summarize the public reporting linked under each piece; photographs belong to the credited sources and remain under rights review.