The University of Toronto began as King’s College, created by royal charter on March 15, 1827, and became a nondenominational public university on January 1, 1850. Its first teaching started in 1843, after years of delay and political dispute. Toronto Metropolitan University, a separate institution, grew from a technical school founded in 1948.
King’s College and the charter of 1827
John Strachan, then archdeacon of York, traveled to England in 1826 to ask for a university charter for Upper Canada. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that the terms of the royal charter were announced in March 1827. The University of Toronto’s own heritage chronology gives the date as March 15, 1827, and names Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst, the colonial secretary, as the signer.
The charter was controversial from the start. It made the archdeacon of York the president of the college and required members of the governing council to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. Strachan later argued that the charter was liberal because it set no religious test for students. His 1827 pamphlet, however, described the planned institution as a missionary college, which weakened that argument among critics. Reformers and members of other denominations objected that a college funded from public land would serve one church.
Because of the opposition, the charter was amended in 1837, and teaching did not begin for many years. Governor General Sir Charles Bagot laid the foundation stone in April 1842, and the official opening took place on June 8, 1843, with Strachan giving the address. A different date appears in the university’s chronology, which records a first convocation in December 1844. The two dates refer to different events, an opening ceremony and a graduation, and sources that say “established in 1843” follow the first.
Secularization, 1849 to 1850
Robert Baldwin’s bill, passed in 1849, removed King’s College from the Church of England and placed it under government control. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography states that the “University of Toronto” began on January 1, 1850. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the same change in two steps: secularization in 1849, and the new nondenominational name in 1850. Both accounts agree on the substance. The difference in years comes from whether the date of the Act or the date it took effect is used.
Strachan opposed the change. He issued a pastoral letter on February 7, 1850, and sailed for England in April of that year to raise money for a church university. The result was Trinity College, whose cornerstone was laid on April 30, 1851. Classes began in January 1852, and Trinity remained independent of the provincial university for more than half a century.
University College and the federation
An Act of 1853 reorganized the institution. According to Britannica, University College became the teaching body, while the University of Toronto itself became an examining and degree-granting body. The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that the faculties of law and medicine were abolished in the 1850s and restored in 1887.
The federation model followed. Under it, denominational colleges kept their own buildings, staff, and religious character, but their students took university degrees and shared university teaching. The Canadian Encyclopedia lists the main steps:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1827 | Royal charter for King’s College |
| 1843 | Official opening of King’s College |
| 1850 | Secularized as the University of Toronto |
| 1853 | University College created as the teaching arm |
| 1885 and 1890 | Knox College affiliates (1885) and federates (1890) |
| 1889 | Wycliffe College federates |
| 1890 | Victoria College and St. Michael’s College join |
| 1904 | Trinity College federates |
Toronto Metropolitan University
Older web pages about the city’s universities often mixed the University of Toronto with Toronto Metropolitan University, which has a separate history. According to the university’s own history page, the Ryerson Institute of Technology was founded in 1948 on the site of the Toronto Normal School, to meet post-war demand for skilled tradespeople. The Normal School, a teacher training college, was established in 1852 by Egerton Ryerson, chief superintendent of education for Canada West.
The institution received university status in 1993 and was known as Ryerson University. In 2022 it unveiled the name Toronto Metropolitan University. News reports from CBC and Global News state that the board of governors approved the name unanimously on April 26, 2022. The change followed years of protest over Egerton Ryerson’s connection to the design of the residential school system, and it was one of 22 recommendations from a task force appointed in 2020. A renaming committee reported more than 30,000 responses and reviewed more than 2,600 possible names.
What the early dispute settled
The quarrel of 1827 to 1850 ended with the state, not a single church, controlling the degree-granting university, while religious colleges could join it by federation. That arrangement explains why the Toronto campus still contains several colleges with their own names, traditions, and histories. For the city around these events, see the general overview linked below.
Frequently asked questions
When was the University of Toronto founded?
The founding charter for King’s College is dated March 15, 1827. The institution opened in 1843 and took the name University of Toronto on January 1, 1850, so 1827 is the usual founding year.
Was King’s College the same as the University of Toronto?
Yes, in continuity. King’s College was secularized by the Act passed in 1849 and became the University of Toronto in 1850. Trinity College was a separate church foundation that later federated with the university.
Is Toronto Metropolitan University part of the University of Toronto?
No. It is a separate university, founded in 1948 as the Ryerson Institute of Technology and renamed in 2022.
What does federation mean at the University of Toronto?
It describes the arrangement in which colleges such as Victoria, St. Michael’s, and Trinity keep their own governance while their students are part of the university.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Strachan, John”
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “University of Toronto”
- Heritage U of T, university chronology (University of Toronto Libraries)
- Toronto Metropolitan University, university history page
- CBC News and Global News coverage of the April 2022 renaming
- Britannica, “University of Toronto”
Related reading
- An overview of Toronto’s history
- Queen’s Park and the Ontario Legislative Building
- Historic buildings of Toronto
- Toronto’s museums and their history
- The Annex neighborhood and its development
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). University of Toronto History: King’s College to Federation. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-of-the-university-of-toronto-from-its-founding-to-its-modern-day-prominence-as-a-world-renowned-educational-institution
MLA: “University of Toronto History: King’s College to Federation.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-of-the-university-of-toronto-from-its-founding-to-its-modern-day-prominence-as-a-world-renowned-educational-institution. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “University of Toronto History: King’s College to Federation.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-of-the-university-of-toronto-from-its-founding-to-its-modern-day-prominence-as-a-world-renowned-educational-institution.
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