A Medical School

A child hugging his grandmother as his father watches proudly

While the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) medical school had been a topic of discussion for years, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its development.

By seizing the opportunity and acting decisively, the university ultimately became home to the first new medical school in Ontario in 20 years. And it was not just any school, but one developed with the mandate to be a game changer in medical education.

In the first two decades of the 21st century, health care systems around the world had undergone major transformations to face challenges in access to care, integration, prevention and complex care needs.

Innovations such as team-based health care were being undertaken in Ontario to help deliver more comprehensive care. But a chronic shortage of primary care physicians contributed to growing unmet health needs. System inequities and weaknesses were exposed with the onset of the pandemic.

Since a new approach to medical education and practice had precedent globally, a new medical school in Ontario was seen as an opportunity to bring systemic change to the province’s health-care system.

Photo: Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing lab and simulation centre.

In March 2021, the provincial government announced financial support to the university in planning for a proposal for a new institute of medical education in Brampton — one of Canada’s most diverse, fastest-growing urban communities. With matching support from the City of Brampton, the university went to work creating a proposal.

First, however, the university launched extensive consultations across the community. That feedback proved to be essential in shaping the values, vision and mission for the school, and provided the foundation that built equity, diversity and inclusion into the bricks of the school.

The vision for the new medical school was articulated in language that was particularly bold for an academic proposal: “disrupting the status quo and addressing the growing gaps in primary care require more than a few tweaks to education…the university’s proposed MD program will be an agent of change.”

Photo: Dr. George Oreopoulos, Program Director for the Surgical Foundations Residency Program.

From the beginning, the university’s proposal had community-based primary care at its core, working with community partners that could help increase access to care by addressing inequities and social determinants of health.

TMU established partnerships with the City of Brampton, William Osler Health System and Sheridan College. In the ensuing months and years, the university’s partnerships would broaden to include medical associations, regional charities and health organizations, cultural community organizations and boards of trade and companies operating in health care.

A male doctor in a white coat with stethoscope around his neck

The university developed five pillars to guide the development and operation of the school:

1. Community-centric primary care and the social determinants of health

2. Culturally competent care to communities

3. Innovation and technology in practices to improve quality of care and patient outcomes

4. Supporting seniors as a growing portion of our society gets older

5. Skill training to develop interprofessional networks of health care to achieve better outcomes for patients and the aging.

In March 2022, the Government of Ontario announced that it had approved a new medical school at TMU.

As part of the government’s initiative to train more doctors to meet expanding needs, the university was awarded 94 undergraduate and 105 postgraduate seats. Senate approved the new School of Medicine in 2023, and a site was secured for the School at the Brampton Civic Centre.

Dr. Teresa Chan was named the School of Medicine’s founding dean and inaugural vice-president of medical affairs. She came to TMU from McMaster University, where she was an associate dean in the department of medicine, and an educator and researcher.

The first classes at the TMU School of Medicine began on Sept. 2, 2025 for the MD students.

Video: TMU's School of Medicine will shape future-ready doctors who are dedicated to delivering primary care to those who need it most, and will empower them to innovate and drive change within the Canadian healthcare system.