Mayor Bevilacqua celebrates second anniversary of Vaughan’s first university

Jan. 21, 2021 10:00 a.m.
City of Vaughan and Niagara University mark important city-building milestones

During a meeting of Committee of the Whole (1) on Jan. 19, 2021, Members of Council supported Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua’s Member’s Resolution to formally mark the second anniversary of Niagara University in Ontario locating to Vaughan. Council further directed City staff to continue collaborating with Niagara University to advance shared priorities that enrich the Vaughan community through education, economic and talent development, public information and city-building initiatives.
 
Founded in 1856, Niagara University, with its main campus located in Lewiston, N.Y., chose Vaughan for the school’s new bi-national site. On Jan. 21, 2019, Mayor Bevilacqua and Niagara University President Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., first opened the doors to students, administrators and faculty at the school’s new location in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC).
 
Over the past two years, the City of Vaughan and Niagara University have collaborated on a series of important city-building initiatives and marked several key milestones, including:
 
  • Feb. 13, 2019: Mayor Bevilacqua presented Father Maher with the Key to the City to recognize and pay tribute to the important relationship between Vaughan and the community’s first university.
  • Nov. 2019: Niagara University took part in the City of Vaughan — Vaughan Chamber of Commerce business mission to Israel. The delegation met researchers at Tel Aviv University, Israel’s largest post-secondary institution, to discuss the future of Smart City technology and its role in developing autonomous vehicles to improve urban transportation.
  • Feb. 2020: Niagara University took part in the City’s annual Vaughan Business Expo organized and led by the City’s Economic and Cultural Development department.
  • May 2020: Niagara University collaborated with the City’s Economic and Cultural Development department to launch a new online speaker series to educate, engage and enrich the public from the comfort of their homes during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The speaker series featured members of the university’s faculty and alumni, as well as community leaders who explored a series of different topics, including career counselling, working from home and financial security.
  • Oct. 2020: Niagara University hosted a virtual convocation for its first graduating class from the Vaughan location. 
Niagara University is an important investment and presence in the VMC – the city’s rapidly-emerging downtown core. The school’s 12,000-square-foot site includes classrooms, faculty and administration offices and student lounge areas. The facility is also within walking distance from the VMC subway station and further connected by the vivaNext bus rapid transit service.
 
Students studying in Vaughan can enrol in either the school’s bachelor of professional studies in education or the master of science in education programs. In February 2020, Niagara University further announced the addition of three new programs — master of business administration, master of science in finance, and master of science in information security and digital forensics.
 
Institutions like Niagara University help make Vaughan a talent-driven city with an educated, hard-working, entrepreneurial and dedicated workforce that is the basis of economic resilience. Opportunities for learning and development made available to Vaughan’s citizens is an integral part of supporting a strong and resilient economy. For more information about economic development resources available, please visit vaughanbusiness.ca.
 
QUOTES
 
“I want to congratulate the students, faculty and leadership of Niagara University on their second anniversary in Vaughan. It has long been my dream to bring a university to Vaughan. In January 2019, this dream was realized when I joined Father Maher to formally welcome students, professors, and Niagara University's administration members on their first day. Higher learning and education speak to the pursuit of a noble goal that is fundamentally woven into every human being's core, and that is to ultimately do better. We must undertake city-building with a vision that focuses on improving access to education. As we look toward the future, I look forward to further collaborating with our city-building partners from Niagara University to enrich the well-being of our citizens.”
- Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua
 
“Two years ago, Niagara University became a permanent part of the Vaughan community. This partnership, which was built upon our more than 35-year legacy in the province of Ontario, enables us to better serve the students who will become Ontario’s future teachers, educational and business leaders, as well as create seamless pathways for students to complete a master’s degree in critical industries of growth, regionally and nationally. The continuing collaboration with Mayor Bevilacqua and the City of Vaughan has reinforced our commitment to build and sustain our cross-border community; support a new generation of compassionate, dedicated, and successful graduates; and become the premier binational university within the province of Ontario.”
- Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., Niagara University President
 
LEARN MORE
 
  • Expanding educational opportunities in Vaughan statement
  • Committed to educating, engaging and enriching news release
  • Vaughan’s downtown core reaches unparalleled heights in 2019 statement
  • Mayor Bevilacqua announces first university in Vaughan news release
  • Niagara University Ontario programs website
  • U.S. News and World Report’s 2021 America’s Best Colleges publication 
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