As we look back at some of the many stories we celebrated in 2025, we’re reminded of the incredible achievements and milestones that make Seneca Polytechnic such a vibrant community. This review highlights a few of the moments, accomplishments and people who defined our year and continue to make us #SenecaProud.
Over our Winter, Summer and Fall convocations, nearly 17,800 students graduated, with 10,300 crossing the stage with us in person and tens of thousands supporting them at Meridian Hall and online through the livestream. Don’t miss the moving valedictorian videos for Winter, Summer and Fall. They join the rest of the 300,000 Seneca Polytechnic graduates contributing to societies across Canada and the world beyond.
Seneca Polytechnic made a splash in 2025 with the launch of its latest brand campaign, This is. Highlighting five impressive graduates, the campaign could be seen across the GTA on transit, billboards and Cineplex screens; on television and streaming including during Super Bowl LIX and the World Series; and throughout digital and social channels.
Seneca’s first master’s degree: In a historic milestone, applications opened for the Master of Artificial Intelligence Design & Development program, reflecting our commitment to innovation, applied research and industry collaboration. In January 2026, Seneca will be the first in Ontario to offer this credential outside of a university.
New programs: We started accepted applications for our new Business – Supply Chain & Operations and Digital Marketing Communication & Analytics programs launching in January 2026.
New path forward: A new Path to Reconciliation has opened at King Campus, circling Lake Seneca, which honours the Anishinaabe-kwe who walked around major bodies of water to heal the water and themselves. The walking path will be formally opened in 2026.
Partnerships with Queen’s University: Seneca added Queen’s University to the list of partnering universities for our Liberal Arts University Transfer program, a great new option in addition to our existing partners of U of T, York and Trent. Also in 2025, the first Seneca graduates who took advantage of a new pathway into Queen’s engineering school successfully completed their first year.
English language testing on campus: Seneca is now home to a test centre for IELTS, a standardized English test trusted by the Canadian government, educational organizations, employers and professional associations around the world.
State-of-art lab: The new HOYA Vision Care Eyeglass Dispensing Lab at Newnham Campus replicates a high-end retail optical dispensing and vision-testing environment.
RBC Future Launch grant: RBC Future Launch has awarded Seneca a $600,000 grant to help nursing students prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. This latest grant brings RBC and the RBC Foundation’s cumulative giving to Seneca to $1.76 million.
A new pathway: A partnership with Northern College provides international students with a pathway to complete online English training through Seneca’s English Language Institute.
New sports facility: Zancor Centre, Canada’s first zero-carbon combined aquatics and ice sports facility, opened its doors. The centre was built by King Township on a portion of King Campus leased from Seneca.
Partnership with Confederation College: A partnership with Confederation College enhances opportunities for Ontario students to address critical skill gaps in key industries such as aviation and veterinary studies.
Policing partnership: Seneca and York Regional Police signed a new agreement to enhance Police Foundations education through experiential learning, joint training, research collaborations and a new $10,000 scholarship fund for female students pursuing studies in law enforcement.
Learning though AI: Our partnership with Microsoft has expanded to include an upgraded model of our virtual assistant SAM with generative AI to provide more personalized, 24/7 support for students, applicants and employees.
Beyond our borders: New partnerships are connecting students around the world to Seneca: a partnership with MAAUN Group of Universities will support student exchange opportunities, curriculum development and global engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa; partnerships with the Continental Institute for International Studies, with GLS University, with the American College of Higher Education and with BEM Tech create opportunities for students to begin their studies in India, Sri Lanka and Sub-Saharan Africa and complete them here at Seneca; a partnership with Anáhuac University in Mexico offers a dual credential pathway; students from Seneca and Amity University Dubai collaborated in the inaugural Seneca/Amity Design Jam to create assistive technologies; we helped iGA Istanbul Airport’s iGA Academy launch the AI for Airport Excellence microcredential; and a new partnership with Marriott Guyana is giving students Work-Integrated Learning opportunities in Guyana.
Real-world impact: Our Applied Research team enjoyed another successful year collaborating with private-sector and community partners to solve business challenges. Among the projects undertaken in 2025 were collaborations with: Let’s Get Together, a non-profit promoting equity and accessibility in education, to study how influential a children’s book can be; Myx Foods Inc., to develop a high-protein meat substitute using fungal proteins; Ionada, on a refrigerator-sized mini-plant that the clean-tech company can use to test new carbon capture systems; I-MED Pharma, to study one of their eye hygiene products; Geoform Systems, to improve polymer systems used to overcome ground instability and water ingress challenges at construction sites; Acclaim Ability Management Inc. to create a tool to improve workflow so the company can better help clients manage workplace absences; webTactics to develop an AI tool that can generate custom job postings; and Wellesey Therapeutics, to identify a sustainable source for a health-boosting metabolite.
Seneca students won gold at the Advertising & Design Club of Canada Student Awards.
Graduate Donna Skelly, MPP, Flamborough-Glanbrook, was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Luna Li and Maddee Ritter, graduates from the Independent Music Production program, were nominated for Juno awards.
Students finished first in the Programming category at the Ontario Engineering Competition, then finished third in the same category at the Canadian Engineering Competition.
Students took home a gold, silver and four bronzes at Skills Ontario.
Illustration student Dani Tagle receive the Ted Lewin Scholarship Award and was featured in the Society of Illustrators' 2025 catalogue.
Graduate Kevin Junor was named to the Order of Ontario.
Graduate Melissa Grelo, co-host of CTV’s The Social and of the Aging Powerfully with Melissa Grelo podcast, received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her work in tackling misinformation on social media and for her contribution to the well-being of Canadian women.
Paralegal student Ruhi Kazmi finished second in the Osgoode Cup Distinguished Oralist category. The Osgoode Cup is Canada’s largest undergraduate mooting competition.
Students from the School of Public Safety earned first place at the Inter-Collegiate CSI Challenge, which tests students’ abilities in crime scene investigation, forensic knowledge and teamwork.
Taylor Kampen placed second to earn silver at the OCAA women’s cross-country race and eighth at the CCAA National Championships in being named a CCAA All-Canadian.
Five graduates were part of the team that won Best Film at the Toronto 48 Hour Film Project.
Vivi Partridge, a graduate of Seneca’s Illustration program, was featured on CBC’s list of 22 Canadian books for tweens and teens to read this fall for Quiet Crossings.
Engineering students Adam Beik and Sam Davis took first place at the OACETT Ontario Capstone Competition and then won the National Engineering & Applied Science Week Competition by making a device that helps people facing vision-related challenges to navigate the internet.
Sukhad Adhikari, a student in the Computer Programming & Analysis program, won a $15,000 Mitacs Business Strategy Internship grant to support his Work-Integrated Learning placement.
More than 1,000 students and alumni from 35 postsecondary institutions converged to tackle issues ranging from hunger to wellness at Seneca’s sixth annual hackathon, with Seneca teams taking first and third places.
Seneca Sting women’s soccer player Marlene Siwula and badminton player Anthony Tso were named Seneca Sting Athlete of the Year for 2024-25. Tso and his badminton partner Jordan Lau captured the OCAA Championship with a perfect record and earned silver at the CCAA National Championships.
David Common, a graduate of Seneca’s School of Media, will soon be seen across Canada every morning as host of CBC Morning Live.
Women’s soccer player Bekah Lee was named OCAA Women’s Soccer Player of the Year for the 2025 season and a CCAA All-Canadian while both men’s and women’s soccer teams secured bronze at their respective OCAA championships.
Students from the Faculty of Communication, Art & Design won gold at the 2025 Vanier College National Marketing Case Competition.
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education named us a top performer on its 2025 Sustainable Campus Index. Seneca was also one of just seven postsecondaries in Canada to earn WWF’s prestigious Living Campus certification.
The School of Fashion was a finalist for Best Event by an Academic Institution at the Canadian Event Awards.
Our Bachelor of Engineering – Software Engineering program has earned accreditation from the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board for the maximum possible term of three years.
President David Agnew and Vivek Goel, President, University of Waterloo, co-wrote an op-ed for the Toronto Star about the importance of AI literacy and how postsecondary institutions can help maximize the societal benefits of GenAI technologies. The piece followed the AI Horizons summit co-hosted by Seneca, the University of Waterloo and Microsoft.
David Bass and Lillian Chan, professors in the School of Creative Arts & Animation, worked with seven recent graduates on Space Cadet, an animated short film that made its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Prashant Srivastava, Executive Director of Seneca International, was honoured with the Global Impact Award from the Canadian and African Women’s Aid Program, recognizing his dedication to international education and collaboration.
Adebola Adefioye, a Seneca graduate and Professor, School of Early Childhood Education, received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for commitment to amplifying the voices of marginalized populations.
Jim Wyer, Professor, School of Management and Entrepreneurship, was recognized with the 2024 Mentor of the Year Award by the Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation.
The Radio-Television Digital News Foundation honoured Professor Jim Carr with the prestigious Michael Monty Memorial Award for his impact in the field of broadcast storytelling.
Scott Pugsley, Professor, School of Fire Protection Engineering Technology, received the Lifetime Membership Award from the Canadian Fire Safety Association and the Jim Copeland Award from the Ontario Municipal Fire Prevention Officers Association.
$12MFinancial aid made available in 2025 through awards, bursaries and scholarships
$454,500Amount in bursaries offered through a partnership with Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada, supporting over 550 students
$200,000Pledge from CIBC to support awards and bursaries for FASET students
95,637 bowlsFree soup provided through the Seneca Soup Program
$1MLegacy gift received from the Estate of Ross Mason to support the couple’s existing endowment that funds the Karen & Ross Mason Computer Studies Scholarship
$282,685Amount raised through the Campaign for Students employee giving program
$158,000Amount raised at this year’s Seneca Golf Tournament to support student bursaries and United Way Greater Toronto
$22,500Amount raised through the Seneca Business Online Auction for the Campaign for Students Endowed Bursary
$600KGrant from RBC Future Launch to help nursing students prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. This grant brings RBC and the RBC Foundation’s cumulative giving to Seneca to $1.76 million
$240,000Funds received from the SSF to support financial aid
$100,000Pledge received from The Gordon & Ruth Gooder Charitable Foundation to support Work-Integrated Learning initiatives
90 coatsNumber of handmade wool coats provided to Toronto’s unhoused community thus far by the Blanket Coat Project, now in its fifth year
Rouzbeh Heydari, a graduate of the Broadcasting - Television program and a professional filmmaker, speaks at Convergence, the showcase for School of Media students.
Students from the Cosmetic Science program display products they created during their capstone event.
Jesus Bustamente performs at Coalesce, the celebration of student work in the School of Creative Arts & Animation.
Sam Wafaei, Professor, School of Aviation and RCAF Veteran speaks at our Remembrance Day ceremony.
Career Fairs across campuses helped students gain industry insights, learn about organizations in various fields, connect with recruiters, expand their networks.
Elder Blu Waters blesses Newnham Campus’s new Health and Wellness Centre while under construction.
Seneca students graduate from the Royal Canadian Air Force Convocation
Our new #LandedTheJob series showcased grads who have chased their dreams, beginning with Stephanie Bertini, Reporter at Fox 5 New York.
Black History Month was celebrated in part with a Food as Medicine Black Food Justice and Sovereignty event
Over three Open Houses, we connected with more than 10,000 registrants and helped them explore all that Seneca has to offer.
Asian Heritage Month was marked with a Japanese pendant workshop and session on Kintsugi, as well as an Asian tea and food tasting.
Pulitzer-Prize-winning Connie Walker discussed her work on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and residential schools.
Pride Month was celebrated in part with a tie-dye and bracelet-making workshop.
The annual Seneca Polytechnic Awards brought together students, donors and employees for an evening of recognition and celebration.
Prime Minister Mark Carney held one of his final events of the election campaign at Seneca.
We hope you enjoyed these highlights from a year full of innovation and accolades. Explore more 2025 achievements in MyNews and continue to read MySeneca for great new stories in the year ahead.
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