Student Wellbeing Health Equity Commitment Statement

Access Matters Video: AAS (led by Learning & Inclusion Developer, Rachelle Bensoussan) collaborated with University Relations to produce a full length feature film entitled, “Access Matters”, a masterclass style video that features five TMU instructors, highlighting their work and commitment toward creating inclusive learning environments. The film is designed to support faculty in implementing accessible and inclusive practices into their courses, while addressing some of the major attitudinal barriers students with disabilities face. The video includes tips, strategies, and resources on how to incorporate principles of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) into our academic community.

The Student Advisory Committee (SAC) successfully hosted its first-ever conference on accessibility and inclusion in April 2025. Led by AAS students with disabilities, the virtual event drew more than 100 participants, including students, staff, and instructors, and created a meaningful space for dialogue and learning.

Participants shared highly positive feedback, noting the value of hearing directly from students about their lived experiences, which offered honest, vulnerable, and insightful perspectives on disability and accessibility. Attendees highlighted the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of both visible and non-visible disabilities, learn about community resources, and recognize the resilience and strength of TMU students. The conference also emphasized the importance of increasing faculty awareness around accessible education and fostering more inclusive practices across campus.

Equity, Community and Inclusion Project: Each subunit in AAS chose a topic that was intersectional with disability and produced a learning opportunity for the larger AAS team. The topics chosen were: Disability and Age, Accommodations and Accessibility in Testing, Indigeneity and Disability and Understanding Racial Inequality and Its Intersection with Disability. The goal was to deepen AAS staff’s understanding of ECI by focusing on disability as a core dimension of ECI and foster a culture where disability is recognized as an integral aspect of diversity.

Peer Support Program: The Peer Support Program at TMU continued to centre student voice and lived experience in the design, delivery, and evaluation of mental health programming. This approach emphasized authentic connection, culturally relevant care, and accessible spaces for support and community building. 

Across the academic year, over 200 unique students engaged in the program, with 750+ total student contacts through one-on-one peer support sessions, drop-in spaces, and structured group offerings. 

One-to-one peer support delivered 173 sessions to 33 students, providing non-judgmental and low barrier access to care. 80% of students reported that participation in peer initiatives helped them develop a strong sense of belonging, provided capacity for self-care or change-making, and helped them cope with academic and life stressors.

The program also delivered 10 structured groups across multiple cohorts, each designed to support mental health and wellbeing through creative expression, skill development, personal growth, and community building. These included groups such as Women’s Peer Support, Queer Community Circle, Learning Helpful Habits, Undergrad Art Lounge, and Let’s Talk About Us. With the latter co-facilitated with our CSCD counsellors, created a space for Black-identified students that focused on identity, connection, and healing. 

Return to Campus Care: Launched in 2024, the Return to Campus Care (RTCC) pilot program was developed as a support pathway for students returning to campus following a mental-health related hospitalization. Spearheaded by the Care Lead with Student Integrated Health and Wellbeing, this initiative represents a collaborative effort across units within the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students (OVPS) and in partnership with local hospitals. 

The primary goal of RTCC is to offer warm, transitional care during and after hospitalization, with the intended outcome that more than 80% of supported students will successfully resume and continue their academic journey. In its first year, the pilot exceeded this benchmark, with over 90% of the 21 students supported successfully returning to their studies. 

Referrals to the program come from both internal university units and local hospital partners. Strong, direct communication lines have been established with emergency departments at St. Michael’s Hospital and CAMH, enabling more collaborative discharge planning and continuity of care. Expansion to include additional downtown hospital partnerships is planned for the 2025–26 academic year. 

The early outcomes of this pilot suggest that warm, integrated, and collaborative care during critical transition periods can significantly improve overall student wellbeing and academic continuity.

Graduate Peer Support Program: Launched in partnership with the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, created leadership opportunities for graduate students to support their peers. Based on participant feedback, the pilot evolved from program-specific sessions to cross-faculty cohorts and included both online and in-person delivery. Six student peer champions were trained, facilitating a series of sessions for graduate students.

The program also piloted the Graduate Art Hive, a drop-in creative space that consistently drew 16+ students per session. Participants described it as “a break from study to reinvigorate my creative juices” and “a space to calm down and connect.”

In total, the program engaged in one formal internal partnership (Yeates School of Graduate Studies), and 3 active collaborations with campus partners including Jack.org, and the Trans Collective, Career Services. An external collaboration with Ontario Shores further expanded the reach of support services through guest facilitators and knowledge sharing.

Increased Reach and Access for 2SLGBTQIA+: SHaW has expanded its clinical capacity to ensure an affirming, accessible care for transgender and gender-diverse students. An expedited pathway to care was developed and launched in 2024-25 for trans identified students seeking counselling. This program is anchored by service providers with experiences and cultural competencies in trans care.

Alongside clinical expansion, SHaW also deepened partnerships with Queer Space and Trans Collective to strengthen peer support networks and broadening our identity-based peer support groups to include 2SLGBTQIA+ students.

CSDC Initiatives to Support Black Students: We are continuing to build specialized care pathways for Black-identified students. This includes understanding needs through ECI data collection and focus student group feedback, matching with counsellors of a similar background when requested, and offering tailored and expedited counselling care. 

In 2024-25 the CSDC served 201 Black-identified students, representing 12.8% of its client base. Since the launch of specialized pathways for Black students in 2020-21, service utilization has increased by 80%, reflecting both growing awareness of and trust in these services.

The centre also maintained a strong focus on culturally responsive care, with 100% of clients requesting a Black counsellor successfully matched for ongoing counselling. Client satisfaction remains high, with 93% of respondents indicating they would recommend the services to a friend. In addition, three workshops were delivered in alignment with Black Mental Health Week, celebrating and affirming Black mental health and wellbeing while fostering community support and awareness.

Let’s Talk about Us is a group for Black-identified students at TMU. This group will be a soft space that will be centered around exploring and affirming the complexity, humanity & vast richness of Black student life & emotional wellbeing. Students can expect to feel a sense of connection to themselves, their peers, and the communities that mean something to them. Students can also expect to explore practical ways of integrating a variety of emotional wellbeing strategies & rituals into their daily lives. We will also emphasize space for lighthearted joy and playfulness. This group will be facilitated by Black staff from the Center for Student Development and Counselling (CSDC) and Health Promotion Programs. 

The Student Wellbeing Advisory Group (SWAG) provides a space for students to raise and address wellbeing concerns, share lived experiences, and guide institutional priorities. The group serves as a liaison between the student body and the university, ensuring student voices shape how wellbeing is embedded into campus life.

Over the 2024-25 academic year, SWAG members participated in five meetings and contributed to 10 campus wide initiatives. SWAG’s impact was recognized through the Leadership Legacy Award Group Showcase in April 2025. Impacts were also felt and experienced by members as students highlighted a greater sense of purpose and ability to advocate for the student community at TMU. 90.9% of SWAG members felt that their input meaningfully contributed to enhancing student wellbeing at TMU.

One student shared that SWAG,

“Gave me a greater sense of purpose and contribution to the student community, allowed me to share my perspective and advocate for students from my background and what has come up in my community and circles. As this is my last year on campus, I feel like I am leaving having left an impact.”

Another reflected,

“Being part of SWAG gave me the opportunity to contribute to real changes on campus while also developing my own leadership and problem-solving skills. I now feel more confident in my ability to advocate for student needs.”

Campus partners who engaged with SWAG this year reported that student feedback was helpful in shaping their work. SWAG has informed (or will inform) concrete changes to programming and project direction, more student-centred approaches, and expanded perspectives around creative and inclusive student engagement.

CW takes an Equity-Based Approach to understanding the data we receive from our students via campus wellbeing surveys. We work to share student wellbeing data across the university to help decision makers and service providers centre the experiences of marginalized students’ wellbeing in policy, programming and approaches.