Lakehead University is a

public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

with campuses in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

and

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, graduate programs, the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, the only internationally accredited (

AACSB The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to business ...

) business school in northern Ontario, and is home to the western campus of the

Northern Ontario School of Medicine Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM University; , ''Université ÉMNO'') is a public medical university in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is mandated both to educate doctors and to contribute to care in Northern Ontario's ...

. Lakehead has more than 45,000 alumni. The main campus in Thunder Bay has about 7,900 students. As of September 2006, a new permanent extension campus in Orillia, located about north of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, has about 1,400 students.

History

Lakehead University evolved from Lakehead Technical Institute and Lakehead College of Arts, Science, and Technology. Lakehead Technical Institute was established in response to a brief that outlined the need for an institution of higher education in northwestern Ontario. It was established on June 4, 1946, by an Order-in-Council of the Province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Classes commenced in January 1948, in temporary rented quarters in downtown Port Arthur. In September of that same year, the first university courses were added to the curriculum.Harold S. Braun with William G. Tamblyn. 'A Northern Vision: The Development of Lakehead University.' Thunder Bay: Lakehead University, President's Office, 1987. Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology was established by an Act of the

Ontario Legislature The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

, proclaimed on August 1, 1957. Years later, the original Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology Act was amended to grant the college authority to establish new faculties, and confer degrees in arts and sciences. The Lakehead University Act was given royal assent on June 22, 1965, and came into force on July 1, 1965. The ''Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology'', thereafter known as "Lakehead University," was continued under this new charter. The first degrees were conferred on May 5, 1965. The first university chancellor was Senator Norman McLeod Paterson.

Campuses

Thunder Bay campus

The original college site comprised about 32 hectares of land in south-west

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it was amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur became the district seat ...

. From 1962 to 1965, an additional 87 hectares of adjoining land was purchased in anticipation of future expansion. The first building was opened in 1957. In 2005 the

(NOSM) was formed as a joint initiative between Lakehead University and

Laurentian University Laurentian University (), officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergr ...

in Sudbury organized within the Faculty of Medicine of both Laurentian (East Campus) and Lakehead (West Campus) universities. The medical school has multiple teaching and research sites across

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

, including large and small communities. Students are given a choice of attending either one of the two main NOSM campuses. NOSM is the only Canadian medical school to be established as a stand-alone not-for-profit corporation, with its own Board of Directors and corporation bylaws. A new

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

was established; the faculty accepted its first students in 2013. The program is housed in the former Port Arthur Collegiate Institute. In 2014 it was named the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, after the fourteenth

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada () is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court system. The '' Supreme Court Ac ...

. Lakehead University's physical plant now consists of 39 buildings and 116 hectares of property including 40 hectares of landscaped and maintained grounds.

Orillia campus

Lakehead University opened a campus at Heritage Place in Downtown

in 2006; during the first semester there were about 100 students. In September 2010 the university expanded to its new 500 University Avenue location. A new academic building at this site represents the first phase in the development of Canada's first

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

(LEED) Platinum university campus. A 271-bed student residence building and a cafeteria/bookstore facility opened in November 2012 at the University Avenue site. Lakehead Orillia now has over 1,200 students studying at the Heritage Place and University Avenue sites. Undergraduate programs are offered at the 500 University Avenue site, while the professional year of Lakehead Orillia's education programs are offered at the downtown campus.

Residence

Accommodations at Lakehead are divided into three living styles: residence halls, apartments and townhouses. The Thunder Bay residence currently has a total of 1,196 beds and three cafeteria/dining halls. Students can choose from meal options that range from kitchenette, full-kitchen and complete meal plan depending on the residence styles. The men's residence for 52 students was opened in fall of 1962, and has grown to include a residence village consisting of 10 new buildings. The village is situated on the banks of the McIntyre River within five-minute walking distance of all university buildings and athletic facilities. From 1989 to 1992, a complex of townhouses, including some handicap accessible units, was added to the residence facility. A 271-bed residence in Orillia opened its doors in late Fall 2012. The Orillia residence has two meal plan options for students, with food services operated by Dana Hospitality since 2021.

Agricultural Research Station

The university supports a research station near Thunder Bay to test newly developed crop varieties. The station had been in operation for a number of years, and was officially taken over by the university in 2018.

Academic organization

The university has nine faculties: Business Administration,

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, Natural Resources Management, Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences,

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

Environmental Studies Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, and

Graduate Studies Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

. The

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

welcomed its first students in September 2013. Based on full-time undergraduate enrolment, the Social Sciences & Humanities is the largest faculty at Lakehead, with about 30% of the students, followed by Health and Behavioral Sciences, Science & Environmental Studies, Engineering, Education, and Business Administration. Two small faculties are Natural Resources Management and Medicine, each with less than 2% of the student enrolment.

Aboriginal

As a percentage of total student population, Lakehead University has one of the largest aboriginal student communities in Canada. The university has a governing board with senate policies along with Aboriginal-governed councils within its university governance structure. Lakehead also offers Aboriginal support including the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives. Special first-year bridging programs for Aboriginal students are provided. Tutoring services are available within Lakehead's Native Nursing Access Program. There is also the Superior Science Program which goes to remote Aboriginal communities. Lakehead has Canada's only Department of Aboriginal Education to foster Native Language instruction and prepare teachers to meet the needs of Aboriginal students and communities.

Scholarships and bursaries

Lakehead University scholarships for Aboriginal,

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

and

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

students include: Hamlin Family Fund Nursing Bursaries; Hamlin Family Fund Bursary; Hamlin Family Fund Native Bursary; Lakehead University Native Award; TBayTel Bursary Apart from these awards, Lakehead University provides entrance scholarships to high school students with marks above 80%, paid out during four years of undergraduate. Lakehead also offers free tuition to students with a 95% average or higher.

Arctic research

Lakehead University is an active member of the

University of the Arctic The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arcti ...

. UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region. The university participates in UArctic’s mobility program north2north. The aim of that program is to enable students of member institutions to study in different parts of the North.

Student life

Lakehead University Student Union, or LUSU, serves as a governing body for student-run clubs. Students can participate in various club activities, ranging from student government to multi-cultural and athletics. LUSU is also responsible for publishing ''The Argus'', the student newspaper, as well as running The Study Coffeehouse and The Outpost Pub, sites that often serve as gathering places for campus community activities and as performance venues.

Athletics

Lakehead's Thunder Bay campus has two main athletic facilities known as the Fieldhouse and the Hangar. The Fieldhouse contains a main gymnasium, weight room, yoga room, 50-meter swimming pool and change-room facilities. The Hangar has a 200-meter indoor track, soccer field, cardio area, aerobic studio and a climbing wall. Lakehead University is represented in the Canadian

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

league by the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Varsity teams include: Basketball, Cross-Country, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Track & Field, Volleyball, and Wrestling. It also has club teams including, Men's Volleyball, men's and women's curling, and rowing.

Notable faculty

Andrew Donald Booth Andrew Donald Booth (11 February 1918 – 29 November 2009)

, early computer scientist, President of Lakehead University from 1972 to 1978 *

Kathleen Booth Kathleen Hylda Valerie Booth ( Britten, 9 July 1922 – 29 September 2022) was a British computer scientist and mathematician who wrote the first assembly language and designed the assembler and autocode for the first computer systems at Birkbe ...

, early computer scientist, inventor of the first computer

assembly language In computing, assembly language (alternatively assembler language or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence bet ...

* Christopher Mushquash, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Mental Health and Addiction * Dave Siciliano, athletic director and coach of Lakehead Nor'Westers men's ice hockey from 1975 to 1980 * Geoffrey R. Weller, Vice-President of Lakehead University and founding President of the

University of Northern British Columbia The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a university serving the northern region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The main campus is located in Prince George, with additional campuses located in Prince Rupert, Terrace, ...

Notable alumni

* Shandor Alphonso - NHL Official * Steve Ashton – Minister of Water Stewardship / MLA Thompson, Government of Manitoba * Jan Cameron, Australian swimmer and coach * Melissa Coates - Professional Wrestler * Ronald J. Duhamel – former Member of Parliament, Senator * Jim Foulds – former Ontario MPP *

Patty Hajdu Patricia A. Hajdu (; born November 3, 1966) is a Canadians, Canadian politician who has served as the Minister of Jobs and Families, Minister of jobs and families since May 13, 2025. Prior to that she served as Minister of Indigenous Services ...

- Member of Parliament, Thunder Bay - Superior North; and Minister * Bruce Hyer – former Member of Parliament, Thunder Bay - Superior North * Anthony LeBlanc - Sports executive, former president, CEO, and alternate governor of the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

, former vice president of global sales for

BlackBerry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

* Stephen Low –

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

Film maker, Director *Kathleen Lynch - President, Confederation College * Eric Melillo - Canadian MP, Kenora Riding, who was elected at the age of 21, in 2019, immediately after finishing his BA. * Dusty Miller, OOnt - politician and first female mayor of the City of Thunder Bay. * Lyn McLeod, OOnt – Canadian Politician, former leader of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

, former provincial Cabinet Minister (multiple portfolios) * Roy Piovesana - archivist, historian, musician, teacher * Gary Polonsky – Founding President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Ontario Institute of Technology * Michael Rapino –

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internation ...

– CEO (parent company of

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...

) * Diane Schoemperlen – novelist * David Shannon, CM, OOnt - Canadian disability/human rights activist, lawyer, politician, actor, university lecturer, author, and adventurer * Dave Siciliano, ice hockey coach and player * Jamie Sokalsky – President and CEO Barrick Gold * Don Talbot - Australian swimming coach * Denis Turcotte – President & CEO,

Algoma Steel Algoma Steel Inc. (formerly The Algoma Steel Corporation, Limited; Essar Steel Algoma) is an integrated steel mill, primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario), St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. ...

* Dr. Asmia Vezina - President,

Algoma University Algoma University, commonly shortened to Algoma U, is a Canadian public university in the province of Ontario, with campuses in Brampton, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, and Timmins. Algoma U offers bachelor's degrees, master's degre ...

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1965 Forestry education Buildings and structures in Orillia Buildings and structures in Thunder Bay 1965 establishments in Ontario 1965 establishments in Canada