North Toronto Collegiate Institute (North Toronto CI, NTCI, NT, or North Toronto) is a non-semestered, public

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

institution with over 1,200 students located in North Toronto area of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The school is operated and governed by the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

. From its founding until 1998, it was overseen by the Toronto Board of Education. The school is located in

Midtown Toronto Midtown is one of four central business districts outside the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the north of Old Toronto, its borders are roughly defined by St. Clair Avenue to the south and Eglinton Avenue or Lawrence ...

in the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood. The majority of students come from the surrounding Chaplin estates, Lytton Park, Mount Pleasant, Davisville Village, Bayview Avenue, Moore Park, Lawrence Park, Broadway Avenue and St. Clair Avenue areas (which are typically middle-to-high income earning areas). Most students have North Toronto C.I. as their home school. However, the school still employs a lottery system for students looking to enter from out of district. The closest TTC subway station is Eglinton station. Their motto is "

Labor Omnia Vincit ''Labor omnia vincit'' or ''Labor omnia vincit improbus'' is a Latin phrase meaning "Work conquers all". The phrase is adapted from Virgil's '' Georgics'', Book I, lines 145–6: ''...Labor omnia vicit / improbus'' ("Steady work overcame all ...

" which means ''Work conquers all''. North Toronto CI celebrated its 100th anniversary in May 2012.

History

North Toronto High School was founded in 1910 and was traditionally housed in the North Toronto Town Hall. The original two-storey school building had five rooms, and was completed in 1912 (the same year that the town of North Toronto became part of the

City of Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

). Later, the school was renovated in 1914 by Charles Hartnoll Bishop to include a third storey and became the north side of the old building, once the south section was built. Other additions included the 1956 math (east) wing, swimming pool, cafeteria and auditorium, as well as the science wing in 1966–1967.

New building

In 2002, the North Toronto CI was one of the oldest buildings in the

TDSB The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

, and was in need of major repair. A planning process was undertaken to build a new school. Due to a lack of available capital funding at the school board, a decision was taken in 2003 to seek private investment to augment funding committed by the TDSB. Subsequently,

Tridel Tridel is a major Canadian real estate developer based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest builder of condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area. Since being founded in the 1930s it has built some 85,000 homes. History Founding The com ...

, a large Canadian condominium development corporation, bought 0.7 acres of land from the TDSB for $23 million. Groundbreaking occurred November 21, 2007, a year after the project had originally been slated for completion. During construction, the school remained open to students because the new building was built on the location of the old sports field. The old building was later demolished and turned into a turf field and track. Architectural aspects of the old building,

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

, were preserved in the new building's courtyard.

built two condominiums, 24 (25 Broadway Ave) and 27 (70 Roehampton Ave) stories high. The new school was opened in September 2010, and the condominiums and the school's new field October 2011. Its gymnasium and exercise room are located in the basement. The new four-storey building, which cost an estimated $52 million, features a rooftop garden, equipped science labs, a full gymnasium, change rooms, exercise room, an underground parking lot, a cafeteria, and school-wide

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

Charity Week

Each year, North Toronto CI runs ''Charity Week'' to raise money for a charitable foundation that is selected annually by all students. Money is raised through student-organized events, such as home-form booths and specialty shows. ''Charity Week'' is spearheaded by the two Student Council vice-presidents, who also lead the Charity Week Committee.

Sports

North Toronto CI has 50 sports teams, in addition to multiple sports clubs and intramural leagues. Sports teams are classified as "major" or "minor", depending on the commitment levels required by the team. Students are not allowed to join two major teams in one season. The North Toronto CI's boys' varsity

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team won the TDSSA championship in 2012, for the first time since 1952. The North Toronto CI's girls'

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

team won the TDSSA championship in 2005, 2006, and 2008. In the 2010/11, the North Toronto junior girls'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team won the City of Toronto championship. The TDSB Tier 2 senior boys'

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

team has won the last two championships after undefeated seasons. In the 2012/2013 season, The North Toronto women's varsity field hockey A Team won the Tier 1 conference championships, and moved onto the City Championships. NT Champs fixed

On Tuesday, March 6, 2012, the North Toronto varsity boys hockey team won the TDSSAA City Championship and qualified for

Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada. OFSAA is the second largest high school at ...

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

. This was North Toronto's first varsity hockey championship since 1952 and first ever OFSAA appearance.

Fall sports

*Basketball *Cross Country Running *Field Hockey *Football *Golf *Tennis *Volleyball *Hockey *Soccer

Winter sports

*Archery *Alpine Skiing *Basketball *Snowboard Racing *Curling *Ice Hockey *Swimming *Volleyball *Badminton

Spring sports

*Baseball *Volleyball *Rugby *Soccer *Softball *Table Tennis *Track & Field *Ultimate Frisbee

Clubs, councils, and publications

Clubs

North Toronto CI provides students with academic and special interest club opportunities. *Aerospace & Rocketry Club *Anime Manga Club *Archery Club *Badminton Club *Business Club *Chemistry Club *Chess Club *Classics Club *Computer Science Club *Bio Club *Debate Club *Drama Club *Esports Club *French Club *Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) *Model U.N. Club *Pingpong Club *Reach For The Top *Robotics Club - Team 820 DeltaTech *Salt and Light Club *Spanish Club *Stage Crew *Student Action Team *Tea Club *TEDx (independently organized TED event) Club

Councils

North Toronto CI's Student Council is composed of democratically elected executive members and a general assembly. There are ten Student Council executive members, who meet weekly and are responsible for student advocacy, school assemblies, and club funding. The general assembly is made up of home-form representatives, who convene monthly with the executive in order to relay the concerns of students. The school's Music Council organizes fundraising events and other activities for music students, such as ''Music Carnival'' and the ''Charity Week Talent Show''. The North Toronto Athletic Association (NTAA) meets weekly and organizes sports-related events, including all intramural leagues and the school's ''Red and Grey Day'', an annual tradition that includes multiple sports games and home-form contests. The North Toronto Environmental Action Team (NEAT) is composed of an executive team and general members, who work towards creating an environmentally-friendly community. The council is also responsible for hosting the annual ''Earth Week'' activities. The Art Council is made up of an executive team and class representatives from each art class, who work on multiple events each year, including ''Soda Pop Shop''. The presidents of Music Council, Art Council, NTAA, and NEAT also sit on the Student Council. *Student Council *North Toronto Environmental Action Team (NEAT) *Music Council *North Toronto Athletic Association (NTAA) *Art Council

Publications

The school has three publications, the school sponsored newspaper, ''Graffiti,'' the bi-weekly newsletter, the ''Red and Grey'' (also known as the ''RAG''), and the yearbook, ''Pentagon''. ''Graffiti'' is produced entirely by volunteers, while students studying Writer's Craft constitute the ''Red and Grey'''s staff and students in the Yearbook class constitute the ''Pentagon'''s staff. ''Graffiti'' is North Toronto CI's award-winning newspaper. It was founded in 1981 and publishes four or five times each school year and also maintains a website. The publication is produced by over 30 student volunteers. ''Graffiti'' has been recognized at the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'' High School Journalism Awards for excellence in student journalism. Most recently in 2019, it won nine awards, including Best High School Newspaper - Over 15 Staff.

Music program

North Toronto CI is very well known for its music programs. The music program supports several musical ensembles."North Toronto CI : Department : Music"
/ref> *Junior Band *Junior Strings Ensemble *Symphonic Band *Senior Strings Ensemble *Marching Band *Stage Band *Symphony Orchestra *Chamber Strings Ensemble *Choral Ensemble *Men's Chorus *Chamber Choir *Concert Band The ensembles participate in various musical events and competitions, including the

Kiwanis Music Festival The Kiwanis Music Festival movement consists of regional music competitions. These festivals are named after the Kiwanis service clubs which generally support the events in each community. Typically, musicians and speech arts performers at each fest ...

, the Ontario Vocal Festival, the Ontario Strings Association Music Festival, and the Contemporary Music Showcase. The school puts on two major concerts each year. ''Fall Fare'' is in December and is a one night concert, while ''Maytime Melodies'', an annual tradition dating back to 1946, is spread out over two nights. Students taking a music class are allowed to participate in or try out for any of these musical ensembles, provided they participate in the musical ensemble associated with their music class. In addition, the music department partners with the visual art department each year to host ''Soda Pop Shop'', a one night showcase of student performers and artwork. North Toronto is the only high school in the GTA with a performance Marching Band. The band practices weekly before school from September to November to prepare for its annual appearance in the Toronto and Markham Santa Claus Parades.

Awards

The School gives out yearly awards to recognize the best students in sports, academics, music, drama, and citizenship. Some notable awards include the following: * Sifton Trophy for School Citizenship * Kerr Trophy for Student Leadership * R.R.H. (Bud) Page Valedictory Prize * Governor General's Academic Medal * Sakhawalkar-Bhatt Citizenship Award * John Taylor Award * Senator Keith Davey Award In its first year in a Gold

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

Facility, North Toronto CI attained the EcoSchools Gold Certification. In 2018, the school was upgraded to EcoSchools Platinum Certification.

Notable alumni

* Mike Hoecht, Canadian-born American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. * Malin Åkerman, Hollywood actress, attended NTCI during the mid-1990s. * Christie Blatchford, graduated 1970, newspaper columnist for '' The National Post''. *

Dinah Christie Dinah Barbara Christie (born 1942) is a Canadian actress and singer. Christie was born in London, England. One of the five children of actors Robert and Margot Christie, she came to Canada at the age of two with her parents and grew up in Toront ...

, singer, comedian, and Canadian television personality. Performed stage revues with Tom Kneebone. Graduated 1961. *

Joe Cressy Joseph Cressy (born July 10, 1984) is a former Canadian politician and activist who served on the Toronto City Council from 2014 to 2022. Cressy represented Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, and was the chair of the Toronto Board of Health. He resign ...

, Canadian politician, graduated 2003. *

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation ...

, filmmaker, graduated with an average of 80% or higher (Ontario Scholar Status). * Jim Cuddy, member of

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, ...

, also member of the NTCI football team. * Keith Davey, member,

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

, former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

(CFL) commissioner, and former Canadian Senator. *

Tom Europe Tommy Europe (born July 27, 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian actor, stunt man, professional trainer and former professional Canadian football defensive back who played eleven seasons in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at B ...

, CFL player (also attended

Northern Secondary School Northern Secondary School (often referred to as Northern Secondary, Northern, or NSS) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to Amal ...

). *

Megan Follows Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows (born March 14, 1968) is a Canadian-American actress and director. She is known for her role as Anne Shirley in the 1985 Canadian television miniseries ''Anne of Green Gables'' and its two sequels. From 2013 t ...

, graduated 1986, actress best known for her title role in ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, ...

''. * Camilla Gibb, attended 1982–1986, winner, 2000

City of Toronto Book Award The Toronto Book Awards are Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city ...

. * Alice Glass, lead singer of Crystal Castles, left in 2003 *

Ryan Hinds Ryan O'Neal Hinds (born 17 February 1981) is a West Indian cricketer. He is a left-hand batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Hinds was a member of the West Indies team that won the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy The 2004 ICC Champions Tr ...

, DB for the Hamilton Tiger Cats * Karl Jaffary, former municipal politician. *

Rebecca Jenkins Rebecca Jenkins (born 1959) is a Canadian actress and singer. Acting She had starring roles in the 1990s CBC series '' Black Harbour'', and the films '' Bye Bye Blues'', '' Marion Bridge'', '' Wilby Wonderful'', '' Whole New Thing'', '' South ...

, actress and singer. * Shaf Keshavjee, global leader in lung transplants and thoracic surgery *

Greg Keelor James Gregory Keelor, (born Francis McIntyre, August 29, 1954) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the band Blue Rodeo, where he shares song writing and vocal duties with Jim Cuddy. Keelor has also rele ...

, member of

, also member of NTCI football. *

Jennifer Lanthier Jennifer Deirdre Jane Lanthier (born February 29, 1964''Something About the Author'', Volume 204, December 2009, Gale Centage Publishing, p. 72.) is a Canadian children's author and journalist. Since August 2016 she has been the Director, U. of ...

, children's author * Henry Lau, singer, attended NTCI in grade 9; ex-member of South Korean boy band Super Junior-M. * Dan Levy, television host, writer, and actor. * Doug Lewis, graduated 1957, held several cabinet posts in the Mulroney government. *

Eric Lindros Eric Bryan Lindros (; born February 28, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lindros was born in London, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals pr ...

, former NHL player, attended NTCI for grade nine, then went on to attend another Toronto high school. * Victor Ling, officer,

; cancer researcher; graduated 1962 *

Milosh Mike Milosh, known professionally as Milosh, (born 1976) is a Canadian electronic musician from Toronto, who is currently based in Los Angeles, California. Career Milosh started learning classical cello at age three, later taking up drumming ...

, electronic musician. * Ken Money, graduated 1948, scientist and athlete. * Nash the Slash, musician. * Roger Neilson, graduated 1951, coach,

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). * Eric Pacey, National Lacrosse League Player, former Toronto Rock player, attended North Toronto for 4 years during the 90's * Saša Petricic, graduated 1982, reporter,

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

. *

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

, actor, attended NTCI for grade nine, then went on to attend a number of other Toronto high schools, including De La Salle. * Dave Sapunjis, graduated 1986, CFL player (Calgary), Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian 1991, 1992, 1995. *

Brit Selby Robert Briton Selby (born March 27, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues. He also played in the Worl ...

(faculty), former NHL player and

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

winner for the league's top rookie as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1965–1966, taught history classes at the school. *

Keith Spicer Keith Spicer (born March 6, 1934) is a Canadian academic, public servant, journalist and writer. Between 1970 and 1977, Spicer was the first Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada. Education Spicer holds a BA in Modern Languages (French a ...

, graduated 1952, first

Official Languages Commissioner The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of the Canadian government is responsible for achieving the objectives of, and promoting, Canada's Official Languages Act. Canada has two official languages: English and French. The 1988 Offi ...

appointed in

, former

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcast ...

chairman, former editor of the

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

. *

Amanda Tapping Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' ''Stargate Atlantis,'' an ...

, actress and producer, class of 1984. * Bill Watters, staff 1966–1970, assistant President of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and owner of the

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a professional box lacrosse franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. Oakville reside ...

. * Howard P. Whidden (1871-1952) was on the NTCI football team. Studied and lectured at McMaster University. Appointed 6th Chancellor at McMaster, has a residence hall named after him. Sat in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

for four years as a member of the Robert Borden Conservatives. *

Vassy Kapelos Vassiliki Kapelos (; born May 6, 1981) is a Canadian political journalist, currently serving as the chief political correspondent for CTV News. She formerly was the host of ''Power & Politics'' on CBC News Network from 2018 to 2022. She formerly ...

, graduated 2000, Canadian political journalist,

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national ...