TTC board votes in favour of renaming Dundas Station

Muriel Draaisma · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 5:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 25 minutes ago

The TTC's Dundas Station volition get a caller sanction present that the transit agency's committee has approved a connection from Toronto Metropolitan University.

The presumption volition beryllium renamed TMU Station, the TTC committee decided unanimously astatine a gathering connected Wednesday.

The decision comes aft Toronto metropolis assembly voted successful December 2023 to rename Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square implicit Henry Dundas's connections to the the trans-Atlantic enslaved trade.

According to the connection from the university, the TTC and TMU volition participate into a "partnership framework" that includes the renaming of the station.

Both organizations, arsenic portion of the partnership, volition make an innovation hub to beryllium known as the Transit Innovation Yard, with the volition of improving transit innovation successful Canada.

Coun. Jamaal Myers, seat of the TTC board, said the collaboration is important for the TTC due to the fact that it means the transit bureau has a caller probe spouse that volition assistance it focus connected problems and code them successful a meaningful way. 

"To beryllium clear, the TTC is not taking immoderate presumption connected Henry Dundas," Myers told reporters aft the decision.

"We are solely responding to the petition that was brought guardant to america from council. Neither is TMU taking immoderate presumption connected Henry Dundas. This is truly astir moving guardant and creating an breathtaking partnership. And this was passed unanimously."

The outgo of the renaming has yet to beryllium determined, but TMU volition ft the measure by paying for the "hard costs," according to the TTC. TMU volition besides wage for probe done arsenic portion of the partnership.

The TTC did not accidental erstwhile precisely the presumption would beryllium renamed.

Mohamed Lachemi, president of TMU, told reporters that the determination to enactment with the TTC is important to the assemblage and its assemblage due to the fact that it gives the assemblage an accidental to service the city. He said it is an honour to person the presumption named aft the university.

"We bash person galore challenges and galore issues and I deliberation this is simply a large time to commencement a strategical concern betwixt the TTC and TMU to tackle problems, usage the expertise that we person and find solutions," Lachemi said.

A study from the TTC's main strategy and lawsuit acquisition serviceman Josh Colle, which was presented to the board, says: "The country astir Dundas Station has changed dramatically with the accelerated maturation of TMU, and the TTC presumption has go afloat integrated with the TMU field and pupil life. 

"A alteration successful the presumption sanction reflects the improvement of some the section neighbourhood and university, portion aligning with the TTC signifier of naming stations aft nationalist assemblage institutions and lawsuit destinations, specified arsenic York University, Museum, Queen's Park, and Osgoode."

Colle, successful an interrogation later, said the caller woody not lone benefits the TTC and TMU but besides lawsuit experience.

"There's a large involvement from researchers to look astatine tackling immoderate of the biggest problems that symptom riders — bunching and gapping, information and security, immoderate of the travel of vehicles connected our engaged streets," Colle said.

Dundas Street and different likewise named landmarks are named aft Henry Dundas, a Scottish person progressive from the 1770s to the aboriginal 1800s, erstwhile the British Parliament was debating slavery abolition motions.