For many Indigenous learners, choosing a post-secondary institution involves more than academics. A community of support, culturally responsive spaces and a sense of belonging can influence where students see themselves succeeding.

In partnership with Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, 91亚色's Office of Indigenous Initiatives, the five-day Indigenous Pathways Program helps aspiring Indigenous learners ages 18 and older build meaningful and intentional connections ahead of their academic journeys. The immersive experience introduces participants to 91亚色's academic offerings while connecting them to the University鈥檚 Indigenous-focused spaces, resources, supports, staff and faculty across its three campuses.

By helping learners feel welcomed, supported and able to envision a future at 91亚色, the program fosters belonging and helps build confidence, clarity and purpose leading up to the transition to post-secondary education. It also reflects a broader institutional commitment to Indigenous student success, says Holly LaForme, manager, Indigenous initiatives at 91亚色鈥檚 Division of Equity, People & Culture.

鈥淔or many Indigenous learners, education systems have not always felt safe, welcoming or full of possibility. Arriving at a large urban institution, often far from family, community and familiar supports, can feel overwhelming,鈥� says LaForme, who helped lead the IPP project. 鈥淎t the Centre for Indigenous Student Services, connection and community-building are foundational to the way we support student success. My hope is to bring a sense of care, familiarity and relationality to the university experience so Indigenous learners feel grounded as they adapt to a new environment, explore their identity and define their path forward.鈥�

Throughout the week, participants stayed in residence and engaged with faculty, staff, current students and alumni. In collaboration with the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, programming highlighted a range of academic pathways through experiences that included a session with Indigenous scholar, 91亚色 assistant professor and acclaimed author Jesse Thistle; workshops in creative writing and social work; hands-on engineering and AI activities at the ; career-focused programming at the , including an Indigenous alumni panel; and a visit to 91亚色's Markham Campus for a immersive day that concluded with a sacred fire.

For participant Sheena Kitchemokman, meeting other Indigenous students and learning about resources available at 91亚色 were key reasons for joining the program.

"The reason why I signed up for the Indigenous Pathways Program is to see what opportunities are available and to meet other Indigenous students who are going to 91亚色," she says.

That sense of connection is a central focus of the program, says LaForme. By introducing participants to Indigenous faculty, students, alumni and support staff, the program helps learners build relationships and gain a clearer understanding of what life at university can look like.

鈥淩ather than asking students to imagine whether they belong in a post-secondary environment, the program provides a meaningful way for participants to experience that community firsthand,鈥� says LaForme, who notes some learners travelled from northern communities to participate.

Those connections, she adds, extend beyond the classroom. Participants are introduced to Indigenous spaces across 91亚色鈥檚 campuses, including Skennen鈥檏贸:wa Gamig, an Indigenous support centre at 91亚色鈥檚 Keele Campus where Indigenous students can use the space for community and cultural connection. For Kitchemokman, it was a welcoming space that left a lasting impression.

"My favourite space on campus is the native student lounge," she says of Skennen鈥檏贸:wa Gamig. "It really does make me feel at home."

Finding this strong sense of community, as well as a clearer understanding of academic options, strengthened her confidence in choosing 91亚色 for her post-secondary studies. She describes one session she attended as inspiring, noting she had 鈥済oosebumps listening to the panel talk about their life experiences and education stories.鈥�

She says the program would benefit all Indigenous learners 鈥� especially those considering 91亚色.

"Coming to the Indigenous Pathways Program has convinced me that this is the right university for me because of all the love and support you get from faculty and student bodies," she says.

Although the Indigenous Pathways Program spans five days, its impact extends beyond a single week.

鈥淏y helping prospective students explore university life, connect with Indigenous community and experience the care and shared hopes offered by non-Indigenous allies, friends, peers and partners across the 91亚色 U community, the program creates meaningful pathways into post-secondary education,鈥� says LaForme.

鈥淏eing able to physically experience these spaces, build relationships and see oneself at 91亚色 is an important first step in making that future feel real, supported and full of possibility.鈥�

LaForme says the program, which ran July 27 to 31, has already encouraged some of the participants to apply.

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The , published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, shows that municipalities may not need new infrastructure to become 鈥渟marter鈥� and explores how to use the city itself as the sensor.

Urban planners depend on data to support decisions ranging from parking management and road maintenance to traffic operations and environmental monitoring, explains Elham Heydari-Gharaei, the study鈥檚 first author and 91亚色 PhD alum. Collecting that information across an entire city, however, can require expensive networks of fixed sensors.

鈥淚t struck me that while municipalities spend millions installing and maintaining fixed sensors, thousands of vehicles are already travelling through urban streets every day,鈥� says Heydari-Gharaei, who is now an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. 鈥淭hat made me wonder: What if the city itself could become the sensor?鈥�

By strategically coordinating vehicles equipped as mobile sensors, bicycles, maintenance vehicles, municipal fleets and shared mobility services could gather and share information as they move through urban areas.

鈥淭he key challenge is coordinating those vehicles efficiently, so the data remains reliable while keeping costs manageable,鈥� says Heydari-Gharaei. 鈥淏y solving that coordination problem, cities can collect reliable, up-to-date information while making better use of existing resources.鈥�

In response, the research team developed algorithms to help planners evaluate operational scenarios. They assessed factors such as sensing frequency, fleet size and service routes, while scaling solutions for large urban networks.

One finding that stood out emerged from a Toronto case study. Researchers found that only about one-quarter of Toronto鈥檚 Bike Share fleet could monitor the entire permit parking network if equipped with sensors and strategically routed. The result highlights how optimization can significantly reduce the resources needed for city-wide monitoring.

Mehdi Nourinejad, associate professor at the and Heydari-Gharaei's doctoral supervisor, says the implications for mobile sensing systems could enhance data retrieval for infrastructure inspection, environmental monitoring, traffic management and other smart-city applications.

鈥淐ities already have thousands of vehicles moving through their streets every day and the key is to develop optimization methods that determine how those vehicles should be routed and deployed to collect reliable data,鈥� says Nourinejad. 鈥淚f cities can collect reliable information using resources they already operate, they may be able to improve services without major new expenditures.鈥�

The findings could also help address financial barriers experienced by municipalities seeking to expand data collection without making large investments in smart-city infrastructure.

Reliable urban data, says Heydari-Gharaei, supports everyday decisions, from helping drivers find parking to monitoring road conditions, air quality and public infrastructure. Better data, says Heydari-Gharaei, can support better planning, reduced congestion, improved sustainability and more responsive public services.

鈥淎s sensing technologies continue to improve, there is enormous potential to rethink how cities gather information without continuously investing in new infrastructure,鈥� says Heydari-Gharaei.

During the project, 91亚色 researchers collaborated with Professor Matthew Roorda from the University of Toronto, who contributed expertise in freight transportation and urban mobility.

With files from Alex Huls

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As Markham Campus is located within the event footprint, some campus services and operations will be temporarily affected.聽聽聽

During this period, campus access will be limited and operations will shift to remote delivery wherever possible. Access will be restricted to approved personnel supporting building operations and Indy-related activities. 

Members of the 91亚色 community should be aware that shuttle service to Markham Campus will terminate at 38 Simcoe Promenade, the Remington parking lot will be unavailable and food services will be closed during the affected period. 

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Emancipation Day is a time for remembrance and for learning together. It invites us to sit with the enduring impacts of slavery and anti-Black racism, while honouring the leadership, creativity, knowledge and community-building that Black people have sustained across generations.

It reminds us that advancing equity asks for ongoing commitment, thoughtful and shared action, and an openness to learning from histories that continue to shape our present.

At 91亚色, we are deeply fortunate to learn from and work alongside Black faculty, staff, retirees, students, alumni and community partners whose contributions enliven our campuses and strengthen our collective identities. Their work helps us deepen understanding, preserve vital histories, expand opportunities for positive social change and create welcoming spaces for new ideas, perspectives and possibilities to emerge.

Recent 91亚色 initiatives offer meaningful examples of this impact. Through Renaissance, a video series developed in partnership between Glendon College and SHIFTER, participants share rich conversations about Black life, culture and identity in Canada, creating opportunities for learning that reach beyond the University and into the broader community.

91亚色 community members are also advancing supports and knowledge that respond to the experiences and needs of Black communities. Black Excellence at 91亚色 () supports Black students from their transition to university through graduation and beyond by providing mentorship, professional development, scholarships, financial literacy, community connections and programs that foster academic, personal and career success. And earlier this year, Professor Carl E. James joined a national research initiative focused on improving health outcomes for Black Canadians through more inclusive health research and community engagement. Meanwhile, 91亚色 Libraries expanded access to Caribbean cultural history through the Heritage Singers Canada collection, preserving stories, traditions and artistic expressions that will support learning and research for generations to come.

91亚色鈥檚 commitment to supporting Black communities extends beyond teaching and research. Through the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance, 91亚色 and its community partners help create opportunities for Black entrepreneurs and innovators, fostering economic inclusion and community prosperity.

These examples highlight some of the many ways members of our community are advancing scholarship, celebrating culture, preserving history and opening doors for others. They also show how learning unfolds through research, storytelling, creativity, partnership and community engagement.

As we mark Emancipation Day, I invite all to take time to learn more about the histories, experiences and contributions of Black communities. I also encourage you to participate in local commemorative events and celebrations that honour this important day. Through reflection, education and meaningful engagement, we can deepen our understanding of our shared histories in our pursuit of a more inclusive and equitable future together.

Thank you, Merci, Miigwech,

Parissa Safai
Interim Vice-President Equity, People and Culture

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This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥� how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

In an era where health information is only a few clicks away, finding answers that are accurate, trustworthy and easy to understand can still be a challenge.

Scientific databases contain vast amounts of knowledge about human health and disease, but much of it is written for researchers and clinicians using specialized language and technical terminology. For other individuals trying to understand a diagnosis, assess a health risk or learn about a specific condition, navigating this complex landscape can be overwhelming.

91亚色 is collaborating with researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) to break down these barriers through an AI-powered chatbot that provides accessible, easy-to-understand health information.

The chatbot serves as a conversational interface for Reactome, one of the world's largest curated databases of biological pathways and processes that drive human health and disease. While widely used by biomedical researchers, Reactome's technical language can make its information difficult for non-experts to understand.

Amin Mawani, director of the Master of Health Industry Administration (MHIA) program at 91亚色鈥檚 , contributes patient and user perspectives to the project, which also brings together Lincoln Stein, scientific director (interim) and head of Adaptive Oncology at OICR; Helia Mohammadi, a graduate student at the University of Toronto; and Adam Wright, a scientific software engineer at OICR.

Drawing on the power of AI, the chatbot allows users to search Reactome in natural language and receive answers in a clear, user-friendly format tailored to their level of understanding. Whether someone wants to know what causes diabetes, learn more about a genetic predisposition to cancer or explore why they feel tired after eating carbohydrates, the tool is designed to translate complex scientific concepts into plain language.

Mawani says the broader goal is to make trusted scientific knowledge more accessible and strengthen connections between researchers and the public. 鈥淭his tool helps to close the gaps in understanding between the research community and the citizens whose tax dollars support them,鈥� he says.

The project received support through the Connected Minds Prototyping Award, a program that helps researchers translate promising ideas into practical tools. The funding supported a graduate student and a scientific software developer who moved the project from concept through prototype development and into production. The project's emphasis on accessibility and inclusivity reflects the mission of Connected Minds 鈥� a multi-million-dollar transdisciplianry research initiative led by 91亚色 and Queen's universities to develop socially responsible technologies that benefit diverse communities.

Today, the chatbot is fully operational and serves approximately 500 unique users each month. Users can ask for information on a range of topics, from everyday health concerns to more complex scientific concepts.

As more people turn to online tools for health information, the team notes the source of the chatbot's answers is central to its value.

One of the project's key goals is to combat health misinformation by drawing its responses from curated databases rather than unverified online sources. By providing scientifically grounded answers, the platform helps users make more informed decisions about their health.

The team also sees the chatbot as a tool for improving health equity. By offering information in multiple languages, it is able to serve users from diverse backgrounds, regardless of health knowledge or familiarity with English.

"Our goal is to bring structured and accurate scientific medical information to people from all backgrounds and communities in a way that removes barriers created by technical language and accessibility challenges," says Mawani.

According to Mawani, better access to reliable health information can have impacts that extend beyond individual users. More informed patients may be better equipped to recognize misleading or false claims, seek timely medical care and take preventive steps before conditions become more serious.

In addition to helping members of the public better understand their own health, the technology has potential applications for researchers. Future enhancements will allow users to analyze large biological datasets and interpret results through simple natural-language prompts.

As the project gains momentum, the team plans to expand awareness of the tool through publications, conferences, workshops and tutorials, while integrating the chatbot more deeply within the Reactome platform.

By making trusted biomedical knowledge easier to access while supporting future scientific discovery, Mawani and his colleagues hope the platform will improve health outcomes for communities and offer researchers a more streamlined way to access knowledge.

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Cities are often designed with an assumption that residents are able-bodied, leaving many older adults and people with disabilities to face barriers in their daily lives. Gebresselassie, an assistant professor at the , argues that urban planners have an opportunity to better serve both groups by recognizing overlapping needs and developing more integrated planning solutions.

The paper, published in the , emerged from a roundtable co-organized by Gebresselassie at the 2024 annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. The discussion brought together researchers examining accessibility issues in transportation, housing and planning processes that affect older adults and people with disabilities.

According to the study, transportation remains one of the most significant challenges for both aging populations and people with disabilities. Older adults may face mobility limitations as they age or stop driving, while people with disabilities often encounter inaccessible transit systems or limited transportation options.

These barriers make it more difficult to reach jobs, services, social activities and health care, increasing the risk of isolation.

Housing presents similar concerns. Most homes lack basic accessible design features such as single-floor living, no-step entry and wide doorways. Accessible homes can be difficult to find and costly. Even when suitable housing is available, it may be located far from transit, amenities and community services, creating additional barriers to participation in daily life.

Although these issues are often examined separately, the researchers argue they are closely connected. Governments, planners and researchers often address aging and disability through separate policies and programs, which can lead to fragmented approaches to transportation, housing and community development.

"Previously, researchers on these topics investigated accessibility issues for the two populations in silos, despite the common challenges they face," says Gebresselassie.

To address these issues, the authors propose an anti-ableist framework that encourages planners to consider accessibility from the beginning of the planning process.

Instead of treating aging and disability as separate concerns, the researchers argue that municipalities should integrate policies, services and decision-making processes. The paper outlines a framework to bring together government departments, community organizations and residents to ensure barrier-free design is considered across transportation, housing and public infrastructure.

"This means moving toward a planning culture that is anti-ableist and can address the accessibility needs of both groups," says Gebresselassie.

The researchers also call for greater involvement from people with lived experience in urban design decisions, as well as enhanced access training in planning education and professional practice.

The authors hope the study will encourage further research on the subject.

"As one of the pioneering studies to illuminate the need to explore the overlap, our study encourages other researchers to follow suit," says Gebresselassie.

The study has also led to an ongoing research collaboration between 91亚色 and the University of Utah. Gebresselassie and collaborator Andy Hong are currently completing another study that examines historical trends in transportation accessibility research involving older adults and people with disabilities.

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For nearly five days, the heavy blanket of smoke trapped toxic particles over Toronto, drastically increasing health risks while the wildfires caused catastrophic damage in communities across northwestern Ontario. 

The unprecedented devastation has 91亚色 experts debating whether Canada should explore a new national agency to manage wildfire response 鈥� or revamp the system in place. 

The recent fires in northwestern Ontario are now accelerating conversations about how Canada manages wildfires, which have gained momentum since fires tore through Jasper, Alta. two years ago consuming about a third of the town鈥檚 buildings.  

Since then recovery has remained painfully slow, highlighting the longterm impacts of the shorterm devastation of wildfires. As of March 2026, only 4 per cent of the 374 properties lost to fire have been fully rebuilt. Meanwhile, insured losses have swelled from early projections of $900 million to an estimated $1.3 billion, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Those numbers have made Jasper a test case for a broader question facing Ottawa: should the federal government overhaul how it manages wildfires 鈥� perhaps by creating a national agency 鈥� or focus on fixing the system it already has? 

Across Canada, opinions diverge sharply on what that change should look like. The debate runs straight through 91亚色鈥檚 Disaster and Emergency Management program at the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, where two professors studying wildfires stake opposing positions. 

After a major fire, 鈥渋t is all left to individual communities impacted to manage it themselves,鈥� and a federally mandated framework would be beneficial, says Ali Asgary, 91亚色 professor and director of the Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM) Lab, which uses large-scale simulations to model disasters and test emergency responses. 

His colleague, Professor Eric B. Kennedy, studies the human dimensions of fire and how people and institutions use evidence to make decisions in wildfire and other emergencies. Like Asgary, Kennedy shares 鈥渢his sense that we need transformative thinking,鈥� but argues that Canada should focus on transforming the systems and programs it already has, rather than building a new national agency from scratch. 

Both agree recent seasons have revealed how fragile Canada鈥檚 wildfire system becomes under extreme pressure 鈥� and that Jasper stands as one of the starkest examples. 

A system under pressure

When the Jasper wildfires erupted in July 2024, scarce resources and confusion over jurisdiction hampered early firefighting efforts, despite what officials described as a well-oiled crisis response. 

Ken McMullen, chief of emergency services for Red Deer Emergency Services and president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), served as an incident commander on the scene. One fire burned to the northeast of Jasper, while three fires to the south merged into a singular inferno racing toward town. 

Inside the blaze, the heat and winds acted like a convection oven, generating gusts as powerful as an EF-5 tornado with wind speeds exceeding 300 km/hr, uprooting trees and hurling flames up to 50 metres into the ir. When mountainside trees gave way, embers rained down on the town, setting homes and businesses ablaze. 

McMullen and his team coordinated the wildland, municipal and volunteer firefighting teams in evacuating 20,000 people, and deploying high-volume sprinkler systems, a rotating air fleet for water drops and hotspot detection, and continuous fuel removal to steer the flames鈥� path. 

Still, when air tankers were needed that first night, none of Canada鈥檚 106-plane fleet was available 鈥� already committed to fires burning in other provinces. By the next day, the blaze had grown too large for water drops to make a difference. By the third, the wind and smoke made flying unsafe. 

It would take 47 days before the fires were declared under control. By the end of the 2024 fire season, two Canadian firefighters had died, including one in Jasper. 

Now, with wildfires raging across northwestern Ontario, McMullen, Kennedy and Asgary all agree that Canada is not ready, and they鈥檙e urging swift, systemic change at the federal level. 

鈥淎t the height of a wildfire season, everybody鈥檚 interested. Politicians are interested. Industry is interested to learn, what do we do differently?鈥� McMullen says. But once major fires are extinguished, they鈥檙e on the back burner until spring. 

鈥淲e forget in January what we talked about in July,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have to make it a 365-day conversation.鈥�

A changing risk landscape

For Kennedy and Asgary, that conversation requires starting with fire itself and how it has evolved. 

Climate change has generated hotter temperatures and drier landscapes, altering fire behaviour and lengthening wildfire seasons around the world. Kennedy leads YEMERGE, a pan-University research network that studies how people, communities and institutions prepare for and respond to crises such as wildfires. His lab examines how local governments adopt mitigation programs such as FireSmart Canada, and how bureaucratic processes and staff turnover in government can hamper fire mitigation efforts. 

鈥淭he big challenge is the magnitude of what we鈥檙e facing,鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淲e have huge forested areas. We have a lot of the [urban] interface at risk of exposure, we have a lot of historic building stock that is not necessarily fire adapted, and we鈥檝e got challenges 鈥� like how to make housing more affordable that can, at times, be at odds with doing well on fire.鈥� 

The 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons were among the top five worst in Canada鈥檚 wildfire history. With 16.5 million hectares of land burned from coast to coast, 2023 was the most destructive on record, followed by 2025 at 8.9 million hectares. 

鈥淲hen you have three consecutive years, you can鈥檛 say 鈥榰nprecedented鈥� anymore,鈥� McMullen says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say it was 鈥榰npredictable.鈥� So if [fires] are predictable, that means that they are preventable.鈥� 

91亚色鈥檚 Disaster and Emergency Management program is instrumental in making those predictions. Asgary鈥檚 team at ADERSIM forecasts the behaviour of existing wildfires with AI modelling, develops drone-based wildfire sensing tools for water quality assessments, and uses virtual reality to help residents make changes related to wildfire. 

鈥淲e can provide a lot of research and training capacities, especially when it comes to the use of new technologies in this area,鈥� Asgary says. 

However, resources have been stretched to capacity across the country, burdened further by a complicated chain of command. In Canada, emergency management for any hazard is usually executed first at the municipal level. As a disaster grows, communities call on their provincial or territorial ministries for more support. 

Fire management in Canada also involves all 13 provincial and territorial wildland fire agencies. Those agencies own and operate the non-profit Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), a collaborative body that coordinates resource sharing and mutual aid but does not function as a federal agency itself. 

Federal emergency management currently falls under the purview of Public Safety Canada and its Government Operations Centre (GOC), which focuses on preparedness and response. In the case of Jasper, the GOC provided humanitarian and logistical support for residents, and coordinated the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces heavy-lift aircraft with the team on the ground. 

There are gaps between existing agencies: CIFFC mobilizes personnel but does not hire or train firefighters, and the GOC鈥檚 activities stop short of the other two tenets of emergency management: prevention and mitigation, and recovery. 

Jurisdictional responsibility for wildfires is further complicated by fragmentation at each level of government. If a wildfire occurs on federal lands managed by the Department of National Defence or Parks Canada, those agencies coordinate the firefighting efforts, not the province.

That was the situation with the Jasper wildfires. A 2025 report commissioned by the Municipality of Jasper cited the provincial government鈥檚 interference as a slowdown to response operations. The report found the province of Alberta repeatedly requested information from the command team and attempted to make decisions, even though it had no jurisdictional authority because the town is located within a national park. 

A year prior, the National Risk Profile (NPR), a national disaster risk assessment published by Public Safety Canada, had warned that jurisdictions are not aligned in their emergency management approaches and programming. The NPR identified further challenges, including information-sharing bottlenecks between the health and emergency management systems. 

Asgary says the current system isn鈥檛 working like it used to. Even well-resourced provinces such as Ontario or B.C. have been overwhelmed in recent years, leaving little capacity to support neighbours. Without a top-down framework, Asgary says, municipalities hire consultants and end up with equipment and software incompatible with other stakeholders 鈥� a problem that only surfaces when operations scale up during a disaster. 

鈥淭he time has passed to do reactive policy making,鈥� Asgary says. 鈥淲e are now in the middle of a major climate change-related crisis. It should be clear for everyone that the current system is not sufficient.鈥� 

The resource challenge

As a disaster unfolds, resources are often assigned based on availability rather than what is best suited for the job, Asgary says. 

鈥淭he wildfire is not going to tell us, 鈥業鈥檓 going to happen now,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭hese resources may be already deployed somewhere else.鈥� 

A national reserve firefighting force is an oft-cited solution, but unlikely without a systemic change in recruitment, says McMullen, who represents fire chiefs across Canada in his role as president of the CAFC. Of Canada鈥檚 126,000 firefighters, about 90,000 are volunteers 鈥� a pool that has shrunk by nearly 29 per cent since 2016. McMullen correlates the drop with recent wildfire seasons that have strained volunteers, who are normally called upon an average of 22 minutes a week to provide support in their local communities. 

If provinces were to increase investment in attracting and recruiting new firefighters or equipment to the pipeline, Kennedy says there would be 鈥渆nough slack in the system to keep trading and sharing and providing mutual aid.鈥� 

The provinces and territories currently own and share an aging fleet of water bombers. The federal government hasn鈥檛 committed to investing in a national fleet, but did announce $316.7 million over the next five years to contract additional aircraft from third parties for the 2026 season and beyond. Provinces, meanwhile, are moving ahead on their own: Alberta announced in February that it would invest $400 million to purchase five De Havilland Canadair 515 firefighting aircraft, with the first delivered in 2031. Manitoba is also in line to acquire three of the new water bombers, with the first to arrive by 2031.

Two paths forward: the debate

Calls for a national wildfire agency surface every year during the height of wildfire season as another potential solution to the resource problem. 

Kennedy says a wildfire agency is a 鈥済reat buzzword,鈥� but notes CIFFC is already working effectively at pooling resources between provinces and navigating equipment procurement with the federal government. 

鈥淭hese 15 fire agencies have been working for decades to build trust with communities, to build relationships, to develop infrastructure and get their systems working well. Why would we want to create a 16th fire bureaucracy?鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淭his call [acts as] a code word for, 鈥榃e need more co-ordination,鈥� or, 鈥榳e need more collaboration.鈥欌�� 

He says Canada鈥檚 approach would be better served with continuous injections of funding to existing systems. He sees the Government Operations Centre as a potential springboard for building a solid operational framework for all emergencies, including wildfires. 

Asgary envisions an emergency management agency that also covers floods and earthquakes. He says the current system 鈥渋s not really able to help to the level that these provinces expect, because they don鈥檛 have [the resources]鈥� during the time of the actual emergency. 

He points to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency as an example of an agency with a wide mandate to do anything required to manage a disaster and its aftermath, including waiving bureaucratic processes and pulling resources from governmental departments. 

McMullen and the CAFC have been lobbying for more of a hybrid role in the form of a national fire commissioner or liaison, who would act as point person for all federal fire-related conversations. 

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) echoes Asgary鈥檚 call for a central emergency management agency so communities can avoid creating a new 鈥減laybook鈥� after every disaster. The IBC, which oversaw $2.4 billion in insured loss claims related to weather in 2025, has called on the federal government to discuss their response to emergency management. Talks are underway: Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience Eleanor Olszewski led public and industry consultations through March 2026, with a report forthcoming. 

Canada remains the only G7 country without a national emergency management agency or a national fire administration. 鈥� 

A future with fire

Central to whatever comes next is mitigation 鈥� the actions taken before a fire. 

鈥淲e have to accept that we will live with fire,鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淗ow do we make the landscape less attractive for that fire to spread?鈥� 

One way is to focus on improvements to the wildland itself. Containing every fire means the forest becomes overburdened with healthy trees that act as fuel. Controlled burns can encourage regeneration of the landscape, and clearing long strips of land to form built-in firebreaks can slow the spread of wildfire. 

Another approach is to work within communities on updating building codes so new structures use fire-resistant materials 鈥� which the town of Jasper is doing 鈥� and on educating residents about wildfire-proofing measures they can make to their homes. 

Disaster response already costs the federal government about $1.8 billion a year. However, the National Risk Profile estimates a return on investment of $4 to $10 for every dollar spent on mitigation, with the highest returns related to risk assessment, hazard analysis and mitigation planning. 

Canada is nowhere near international investment benchmarks established by the European Union that suggests governments spend between 0.66 and 1.25 per cent of their GDP annually on climate adaptation, which includes fire mitigation activities. For Canada, that would fall between $21.5 and $40.7 billion. In 2026, the federal climate adaptation spend is $7.1 billion. 

Investments start and stall with shifts in government, which further complicate consistent action, and are often targeted at firefighting instead of systemic change, Kennedy says. 鈥� 

鈥淭here is simply no number of firefighters that would be enough in Canada. We will never have enough air tankers. We will never have enough hoses. We will never have enough firefighters. That is a black hole of investment,鈥� says Kennedy. 鈥淲e could pour as much money into firefighting as we want, and it will never be enough, because the root causes of this are not fire suppression alone, but are ecosystem management, addressing climate change and building more resiliently.鈥�

Contributed by Kristina Urquhart

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Earlier this year, Bronson was in his basement doing something he had never done before: memorizing lines for his first one-person show, The Last Hornblower, which debuted at the Hamilton Fringe Festival this month.

Written and performed by Bronson, the show reflects his career specializing in existentialism, world religions, literature and philosophy by pairing the Norse mythological story of Ragnarok 鈥� a final battle in which the gods knowingly march toward their fate 鈥� with a contemporary story about a pilot living with Alzheimer disease.

By linking modern and ancient narratives, Bronson wants audiences to see themselves as part of a much longer human story.

"It's important to feel your roots and to feel that you're connected, not just to your parents or your background, but to stories stretching back thousands of years, with themes we're still drawn to today 鈥� whether we recognize it or not," says Bronson.

Helping people discover those connections is also central to Bronson's work as an educator in 91亚色's Department of Humanities.

Among his courses are 鈥淕ods and Humans,鈥� which examines interactions between gods and humans in literature, art and philosophy, and 鈥淭he Modern Age: Shapers & Definers,鈥� which explores influential figures who defined modern artistic and intellectual traditions.

Both draw on stories, beliefs and ideas from different eras, cultures and religious traditions 鈥� but rather than treating them as historical artifacts or texts belonging to someone else's belief system, Bronson encourages learners to look for relevance to contemporary life, and to their own lives.

One way he does this is by pairing ancient texts with modern examples from popular culture to illustrate how older works continue to inform the art, narratives and ideas that resonate today.

A discussion of movement and dance in a Hindu scripture, for instance, might lead to a contemporary film, documentary or other example of dance in modern culture, allowing students to consider how similar ideas continue to surface in contemporary life.

"The scripture might be 2,000 years old. That's not changing," says Bronson. "But what's changing is the ways that we see it today."

Those moments when "a light goes on" are among Bronson's favourites. A student who may have had little exposure to a particular religion, philosopher or cultural tradition suddenly recognizes something familiar in an ancient story and, in turn, sees themselves reflected in it.

For Bronson, those realizations can be transformative.

"When they see that their interests or their experiences are connected to something larger, longer, more longstanding, it adds a kind of dignity to it," says Bronson.

It was those moments of recognition that unexpectedly led Bronson toward theatre.

During a visit to the Hamilton Fringe Festival last year, he attended several storytelling-based performances and recognized something familiar: people gathering around stories, wrestling with big ideas and discovering meanings they might not have arrived at on their own.

The experience got him thinking about how those kinds of conversations might take place outside the University and how theatre could provide a space for them.

鈥淭hat's often what we do in academia 鈥� make those connections for students,鈥� says Bronson. 鈥淏ut there are people who aren't going to university, or who have been out of university, or just haven't had that experience.鈥�

Through The Last Hornblower, Bronson hopes audiences encounter something similar to the moments he values most in the classroom: recognizing that ideas they may have thought belonged only to philosophers, religious traditions or ancient myths are also present in their own lives.

More than anything, he hopes they leave with a renewed sense of where they fit within the larger human story.

鈥淲e all appreciate that in art. We all look to art for that,鈥� says Bronson. 鈥淎nd when it happens, we come back to our everyday world, if not elevated, at least slightly changed.鈥�

runs at the Hamilton Fringe Festival until July 26.

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While every effort is made to minimize the disruption of operations on the Keele Campus, the following parking and traffic modifications will be in effect.

Reserved parking for tennis pass holders: 

• Founders Road East Lot 
• Northwest Gate Lot (north/middle) 
• Arboretum Lane Parking Garage 
• Student Services Parking Garage 
• Shoreham Drive Lot 

Patrons and participants are required to have a virtual Tennis Parking Pass to access these lots/garages.

All lots, with the exception of the Shoreham Drive Lot, will be occupied for this event from Saturday, Aug. 1 at 6 a.m. until Thursday, Aug. 13 at midnight.

The Shoreham Drive Lot will be closed for this event from Friday, July 31 at 6 a.m. until Friday, Aug. 14 at 6 a.m.

91亚色 U parking permit holders

Permit holders with the exception of Shoreham Lot permit holders, will not be displaced during this event. A predetermined quantity of parking spaces have been reserved for community members who must be on campus during this time. Shoreham Lot permit holders will be moved to Arboretum Lane Parking Garage starting on Friday, July 31 until Friday, Aug. 14 inclusive.

91亚色 U visitor/short-term parking

Visitor and short-term parking will be available in the following places:

• Vanier Lot 
• Founders Road East Visitor Lot ($10 flat rate) 
• Founders Road West Lot ($10 flat rate) 
• Northwest Gate South Lot ($10 flat rate) 
• Calumet Lot ($15 flat rate) 
• 91亚色 Lanes Parking Garage 
• Atkinson Lot 
• Passy Crescent 
• Assiniboine Road 
• Fine Arts Road 
• Physical Resources Building Lot South 
• Thompson Road Lot West 
• Thompson Road Lot East 
• University Street 
• Lumbers Visitors Lot 
• Student Services Parking Garage 

There will be no short-term parking in the following places: 

• Arboretum Lane Parking Garage 
• Northwest Gate Lot (north/middle) 
• Shoreham Lot 

Traffic restrictions on campus

Shoreham Drive will be fully closed for the duration of the event at these times: 

• Saturday, August 1 to Sunday, Aug. 9: Road restrictions will be in effect daily from 9 a.m. to midnight.聽
• Monday, August 10 to Thursday, Aug. 13: Restrictions will apply daily from 4 p.m. to midnight.聽

For more information or if any special parking arrangements are required, contact Parking Services at parking@yorku.ca.

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is an AI platform built for real estate and asset management co-founded by Gaurav Madani and Arunabh Dastidar, who met as Schulich MBA students in 2017 and graduated together in 2019. The tool鈥檚 third co-founder, Zain Nathoo, is also a Schulich alum.

The platform was created to solve fragmented data challenges in real estate investing by using AI to organize information and provide customizable systems that help investment teams analyze data, automate tasks and make faster decisions. These were challenges both Dastidar and Nathoo encountered while working in real estate investment and helping to manage more than $1 billion in property assets.

Frustrated by delays in financial reports 鈥� which often arrived in spreadsheets weeks late and slowed decision-making 鈥� they turn to Schulich for guidance and support to bring their solution to market.

Early on, the founders brought their idea to Chris Carder, executive director of Schulich's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Madani recalls approaching Carder, who at the time was alone in the Schulich cafeteria, and sharing the team鈥檚 idea. Carder offered the team direction, facilitated important connections and amplified the company within his own network.

"He was a sounding board, which is what founders need in the early days," Madani says. "Especially in the early days when no one knows you, those kinds of things are really important."

Beyond Carder, the company drew on other forms of support at Schulich. Andre Kuzmicki, retired professor, introduced the team to senior professionals at large Canadian institutions who would become some of Leni's first clients.

As well, Schulich's Entrepreneurial Studies program has partnered with Leni to create student internships.

"Schulich gave us a community of people who believed in what we were building and opened doors that would have been much harder to access on our own," says Dastidar. "That early support was instrumental in helping us gain traction and credibility as we scaled."

While Leni began by connecting industry systems to track performance in real time, it evolved to integrate AI, which became central to its development from 2022 onward.

Today, it helps investment teams evaluate deals, conduct research and automate reporting tasks that would otherwise take days.

Madani says Leni stands out for its focus on accuracy. It is trained to break complex questions into parts, route them across multiple AI models, evaluate whether the responses meet its threshold, and surfaces an answer only when it passes 鈥� along with the reasoning and source data behind it.

"Leni will always treat any output as a hypothesis that needs to be proven," he says.

As the company expands, the relationship with Schulich continues in both directions. Leni's founders now serve as mentors, judges and guest lecturers with Schulich Startups, where they contribute to the same ecosystem that helped them get started.

For students who are thinking about building their own tool, Madani's advice is simple: "No two entrepreneurial journeys look the same," he says, adding that Schulich鈥檚 support was instrumental to Leni鈥檚 success.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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