This morning, our Humber community gathered with donors and partners on campus for the President’s Breakfast – an annual tradition to celebrate, connect, and recharge our collective energy as we begin a new academic year. This year’s event reflected our values in action: all materials were sourced from Canadian businesses, underscoring our commitment to championing local innovation, sustainability, and community.  

As I’ve said many times before, I am honoured to be part of such a comprehensive, diverse and talented organization that leads through action, innovation and inclusion. Humber is a place where possibility is sculpted into purpose, where creativity turns into pathways, experiments into expertise, and promise into brilliance. We are not waiting for the future – we are building it, together. Because at Humber, we are Builders of Brilliance.  

Honouring Humber’s Legacy, Embracing Our Future 

For 58 years, Humber has led the way in Canadian post-secondary education by putting students first, driving innovation, and redefining excellence. Now, as we enter our second year as a polytechnic, we continue to chart our own path forward. Our new name is a statement of purpose, and we’ve already seen the results to prove it.   

From the faculty and program developers who designed 45 new programs, to the teams who responded to enrolment challenges, to our new brand campaign, and to everyone who pitched in to mitigate revenue challenges. It is the dedication, ingenuity, and passion of our people that allow us to lean into change, not away from it.  

Year over year, the Humber community excels locally, nationally, and globally. These achievements highlight our students’ remarkable talent and showcase the edge they discovered at Humber.  

The Humber Edge: Solutions For Canada’s Productivity Crisis 

As we rise to meet our own challenges of enrolment and new program development, we are also stepping forward to help Canada address one of our most pressing issues: a national productivity crisis.  

Canada is facing economic uncertainty. While these are undeniably trying times, these are exactly the challenges polytechnic education is built to solve, and Humber is uniquely positioned to lead.  

So, what’s different about Humber? As a polytechnic, applied learning is foundational to our approach to education, but we also have what I call “The Humber EDGE” – a mindset and a movement for what’s possible when we bring our whole selves, our ideas, and our purpose to our work. When we do this, we are resilient. We are an incredibly powerful force.  

Humber’s polytechnic approach to productivity is embedded into everything we do: our infrastructure, our research, our partnerships, and our programs. We focus on actionable solutions, real-world readiness, and high-impact outcomes. Because we know that productivity isn’t just about doing more, faster.  

Productivity is about people. It’s about relationships. And it’s about how we work together to unlock potential. For us, productivity lives at the intersection of innovation, skills, and collaboration. This is what a polytechnic does: we meet learners where they are and help them build bridges to where they want to go.  

You can see it in every student building robots, designing new materials or optimizing systems through AI. Students come to Humber with the raw materials to become leaders, problem-solvers, creators, and innovators, and our faculty and staff open doors to possibility, bridge gaps, and push boundaries – that’s why we call it The Humber EDGE.  

Building Brilliance in The Year Ahead  

At Humber, we’re not just responding to change – we’re shaping it. In the year ahead we’ll continue shaping the future of higher education by Building Brilliance, guided by our three strategic pillars: Reimagining Learning, Deepening Partnerships, and Driving Impact.  

In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be sharing more information about the new initiatives announced at this year’s President’s Breakfast as we deliver on our vision.  

Highlights from today include: 

• Digital Fluency Framework – a Humber community-built initiative to help us work more effectively, grow professionally, and lead confidently in a digitally driven world. 
• Learning Innovation Hub – initiated by IGNITE’s past Board members and designed to be a dynamic, collaborative research and experimentation space that will bring faculty, staff and students together to shape creative ideas in teaching and learning. 
• Building Brilliance Fund for Innovation in Teaching and Learning – an annual investment fund to support student-faculty teams to build together, scale ideas, and experiment with new educational models that drive impact.  
• Faculty of Health & Life Sciences – a reimagined Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness, reflecting the evolving needs of our healthcare system and the growing need for innovation in health education. 
• School of Nursing – building on Humber’s leadership in nursing education and in response to Ontario’s healthcare labour shortage, we’re opening dedicated space for excellence in nursing education, research, and innovation. 
• School of Clean Energy – bringing together Skilled Trades, Engineering and ICT to prepare graduates for the sector’s cross-disciplinary nature while providing applied learning opportunities in nuclear, smart grid, cybersecurity, and AI systems, rooted in sustainability, systems thinking, equity, and inclusive innovation.  
• Digital Experience Platform – transforming how students discover and apply for our programs to reflect who they are and who they want to become, powered by intuitive design, personalized journeys, and content aligned with learner goals.  
• FIFA 2026 Partnership – Humber is proudly collaborating with the City of Toronto as an official supporter of the Toronto World Cup 2026 Host City and will be home to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Volunteer Centre for Toronto, a landmark partnership that will provide our students with world-class, hands-on learning experiences while equipping them with the skills for success in a global context. 

Each of these initiatives reflects Humber’s commitment to our people, our students, our communities, and our partners while preparing us all for a world that is faster, more complex, and more connected than ever.  

Our Time to Shine  

As I looked around the room this morning at the President’s Breakfast, I saw Builders of Brilliance: faculty who reimagine education, staff who keep our campuses thriving, students who lead with courage and creativity, and alumni, partners, and Board Governors who help bring our mission to life.  

Thank you to the entire President’s Breakfast Planning Committee, the supporting teams, and everyone who contributed to another outstanding event. And thank you to every member of the Humber community for your passion, resilience, and vision.  

This is our moment. As we launch into a new academic year, let’s meet it with curiosity, collaboration, and purpose. Let’s keep building brilliance, together.