Facts and figures
Founded independently in 1876
Granted university status in 2002.
Students in 2015/2016
255 graduate students
23% of graduate students are international
4,346 undergraduate students
9% of undergraduate students are international
28% speak a first language other than English
20% citizens of countries other than Canada
In an average year there are students from 50+ COUNTRIES
250+ full-time-equivalent faculty (including sessionals)
To Average undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 15 to 1
17 Undergraduate Programs
Current Programs
Advertising
Criticism & Curatorial Practice
Cross-Disciplinary Art: Life Studies
Cross-Disciplinary Art: Publications
Digital Futures
Drawing & Painting
Drawing & Painting: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation
Environmental Design
Environmental Design: Interior Design Specialization
Graphic Design
Illustration
Indigenous Visual Culture
Industrial Design
Integrated Media
Integrated Media: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation
Material Art & Design
Photography
Printmaking
Sculpture/Installation
Visual and Critical Studies
7 Graduate Programs
Current Programs
Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories
Criticism and Curatorial Practice
Design for Health
Digital Futures
Inclusive Design
Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art, Media & Design
Strategic Foresight & Innovation
RESEARCH
18 research labs
Including: Digital Media Research + Innovation Institute
Inclusive Design Research Centre
Strategic Innovation lab (SLAB)
Visual Analytics Lab
$3.9 MILLION in research funding in 2013/2014
$39,438 per full-time faculty research funding in 2013/2014
40,000 guests come to see work by more than 900 graduating students every May
Faculty art and design auction held annually at the end of March
OCAD U presents an annual independent project at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche
OCAD U’s professional gallery, Onsite [at] OCAD U, produces three shows annually
CHANCELLOR – Salah Bachir
President and VICE CHANCELLOR – Dr. Sara Diamond
Affiliations
OCAD U is a publicly assisted post-secondary institution
Associate Member, Council of Ontario Universities (COU)
International Affiliate, Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD)
Member, Universities Canada / Universités Canada
Member, Association of Canadian Institutes of Art and Design (ACIAD)
Shops and Studios
OCAD U is home to a wide variety of facilities including fully equipped studios for everything from painting, photography, etching, screenprinting, wood, metal and plastics to rapid prototyping, and the only foundry in Toronto’s downtown core.
In 2015/16 students:
worked
18,853 grams of silver
spent
1,525 hours 3D printing
laser-cut
2,485 jobs
used
160 square feet of copper
wore
720 nitrile gloves
made
472 stretchers for canvas
purchased
4,756 feet of lumber
poured
900 pounds of bronze
cut, welded, ground or polished
7,981 pounds of steel
purchased
966 sheets of plywood
screen printed
583 litres of ink
affixed
200 litres of glue
History
OCAD University was originally established in Toronto in 1876 by the Ontario Society of Artists. Back then it was called the Ontario School of Art. In 1912, it was incorporated as the Ontario College of Art, becoming the first school in Canada dedicated to exclusively to the education of professional artists in fine and commercial art. In 1996, the name changed to the Ontario College of Art and Design, reflecting the growth of design programs. In 2010, to reflect the institution’s status as a university granted in 2002, the school became officially known as OCAD University.
OCAD University acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe and the Huron-Wendat, who are the original owners and custodians of the land on which we stand and create.
Distinguished Leaders and Alumni
OCAD U is shaped by the international art and design leaders who lead, teach and study here. Our history begins with celebrated painter George A. Reid, designer of the original Grange Park campus, and The Group of Seven’s Arthur Lismer and J.E.H. MacDonald, who led the institution as vice-principal and principal, respectively. Other notable faculty and alumni are:
Art
Barbara Astman, Rebecca Belmore, Shary Boyle, George Bures Miller, Ian Carr-Harris, Graham Coughtry, Fred Hagan, Kristan Horton, Jock Macdonald, Doris McCarthy, Gary Neil Kennedy, Gordon Rayner, David Rokeby, Michael Snow, Joanne Tod, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Colette Whiten
Design
Debbie Adams, Carl Dair, Theo Dimson, Allan Fleming, Helen Kerr, Jeremy Kramer, Scot Laughton, Ken Rodmell, Donald Stuart
Illustration
Marcos Chin, Gary Clement, Anita Kunz, Clair Stewart, Gary Taxali
Film and photography
Douglas Ball, Floria Sigismundi
Today OCAD U is the third largest of the 40 professional art and design universities in North America. Read facts and figures and find out more about OCAD U’s president and executive.
