In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, U of T students — as well as the rest of the world — have come to familiarize themselves with the uncertainty of ever-changing public health guidelines.

For curious incoming first-year students, The Varsity considered U of T’s COVID-19 policy — as it compares to the policies of other universities in North America — and broke down the major changes.

Where U of T started

On January 25, 2020, Ontario public health officials announced the first case of COVID-19 in Canada. The next day, U of T released a statement assuring students that the university was “monitoring the situation carefully.” The university also requested that students who may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 avoid contact with others and seek medical attention immediately.

With tensions rising, people across Canada heeded public health officials’ recommendation to wear medical masks — particularly the N95 respirator that has the most efficient filtration system for airborne particles. The surge in demand for masks by the general public caused a significant supply shortage for health-care workers.

As the N95 respirator became increasingly sought after, U of T students found an outlet for purchase at the U of T Bookstore; however, the cost of masks displayed in the store were substantially marked up. Individual boxes of surgical masks and N95 respirator masks were priced between $100 and $160. After receiving backlash, the U of T Bookstore apologized and removed the mask display.

By March 1, 2020, there were more than 20 cases of COVID-19 in Canada. Universities around North America had suspended study-abroad programs and recalled students who were already on exchange with universities including Stanford University, New York University, the University of California, and the University of Calgary. At this time, U of T had not recalled its students who were abroad and affirmed that it was maintaining contact with them.

Also in early March of 2020, U of T announced that it was preparing an official response to COVID-19, and it said that plans for COVID-19 response will be made independently across faculties and campuses. Therefore, there would be no central policy.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. That same day, U of T announced that it would no longer require a medical note to excuse absences for students who may have COVID-19, may be self-isolating, or may be experiencing flu-like symptoms. This was the first holistic policy change the university had implemented since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, in a memo to the U of T community, Vice-President & Provost Cheryl Regehr and the then Vice-President, Research & Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives Vivek Goel announced that all professors and instructors must devise a strategy in case people are unable to come together in person due to illness.

On March 12, 2020, U of T suspended all international activity and requested that any staff or faculty considering non-essential travel should self-isolate for 14 days upon reentry into Canada. The university explained that it would be in touch with students in study-abroad programs to provide support based on whether they choose to return to Canada or remain in their host country.

On March 13, 2020 — with 198 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada — U of T announced that all undergraduate classes and research-stream graduate classes will be cancelled effective March 16, 2020 till April 3, 2020. As per the announcement, campuses would remain open and classes would shift to alternative teaching modes, including online course delivery.

Also on March 13, 2020, in an email to students studying abroad, U of T informed them that it was suspending international programs and requesting their return. The university required the students to declare whether they would be staying in their host country or returning by the end of March 16.

On March 14, 2020, U of T announced it would be limiting library hours and, until early April 2020, closing gyms and child-care centres on campus. Effective March 17, 2020, Robarts and Gerstein at UTSG and the UTM and UTSC libraries would remain open for limited hours, while all other libraries at UTSG would be closed. Further, the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) announced that it would be extending the deadline to drop courses and declare a course credit/no credit — which would be expanded to unlimited courses — until April 25, 2020.

On March 15, 2020 — with 341 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada — U of T cancelled all in-person exams. On the same day, the the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies disclosed the first case of COVID-19 on campus to its graduate students; however, U of T claimed to not have received any notice of this case.

The first phase for other universities

In the initial phases of the pandemic, public health officials were announcing new changes every day; U of T and other North American postsecondary institutions’ response was no different.

Universities across North America and schools and services in Ontario underwent closures and transitions around the same time that U of T took the decisive step of transitioning to alternative/online course delivery.

U of T’s switch to online mode of delivery became effective on March 16, 2020; other universities in Canada followed a similar timeline. For example, the Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of British Columbia switched to online learning on March 13 and 16, respectively.

In the United States, the University of Washington announced its transition to online learning on March 9, 2020. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology cancelled in-person classes from March 16, 2020 onward, and Harvard University announced plans of completing its transition to online learning by March 23, 2020.

Public schools in Ontario were closed on March 12, 2020. Five days later, on March 17, Ontario declared the COVID-19 pandemic an emergency and mandated the closure of many non-essential services.

By the end of March 2020, education across the continent was fundamentally altered.

Path to in-person learning

In May 2020 — with more than 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada — U of T began planning the fall 2020 semester with a hybrid mode of learning. The FAS, in particular, maintained that it would ensure an online option for almost all in-person classes, but it warned that instructors were at liberty to request to move a course online from in person.

In fall 2020, UTSC remained largely online, while UTM and the FAS planned to offer online options for in-person courses. Notably, the university did not implement a uniform policy.

In October 2020, following Ontario’s return to phase two and more than 10,000 active cases of COVID-19 in Canada — in which indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people — UTSC moved all in-person courses online, and the FAS moved all hybrid courses online. In November 2020, the FAS also moved hybrid courses for winter 2021 to online delivery.

Students and student groups across the three campuses criticized the university’s COVID-19 response, citing late notices for implemented changes, lack of financial support, and the difficulty of transitioning to online.

Online learning continued into summer 2021, with U of T delivering a vast majority of courses online.

Just before fall 2021, U of T announced that it would require students to self-declare their COVID-19 vaccination status on UCheck if they wish to partake in in-person activities on campus. Students who did not declare their status needed to receive a negative result bi-weekly on COVID-19 tests. Although 55 per cent of courses were still being delivered in person in fall 2021, students expressed frustration with sudden switches to online for certain courses.

With the rise in cases due to the Omicron variant, on December 15, 2021, U of T cancelled all in-person exams and announced the return — with some exceptions — to online mode of course delivery until January 31, 2022.

In January, active cases of COVID-19 in Canada surpassed 400,000. At the same time, U of T announced that it would begin increasing in-person activities on Feburary 7, 2022. Campuses and faculties were again responsible for determining the exact date on which they would resume or begin in-person activities.

U of T’s response to rising cases was comparable to that of Toronto Metropolitan University and Queen’s University, which extended online learning until January 28 and February 28, respectively.

Easing policies

Throughout winter 2022, U of T maintained a mask and vaccine mandate. U of T affirmed that both mandates would remain in place at least until the end of winter 2022; however, the province lifted vaccine requirements for universities and the provincial mask mandate in March 2022.

The university officially paused its vaccine requirements on May 1, but it maintained its mask mandate until June 30.

Other Canadian universities, too, began easing restrictions in March. Many universities across Canada — including Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Ottawa, McGill University, and the University of Guelph — lifted their mask mandates and vaccine requirements in May.

With more than 300,000 cases currently active but more than 94 per cent of the U of T community fully vaccinated, the university plans to continue with in-person course delivery in fall 2022.