The changes come a week after Premier Doug Ford demanded Ontario’s newest medical school educate qualified individuals ‘regardless of their race or background’
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Toronto Metropolitan University has made some changes to the “aspirational language” describing the admissions policy for its new medical school, insisting there was never a quota system in place for who it would accept.
The changes come a week after Premier Doug Ford demanded Ontario’s newest medical school educate qualified individuals “regardless of their race or background,” amid backlash over the school’s plan to loosen academic qualifications and screen out prospective students by race or status.
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Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) president Mohamed Lachemi, in a statement posted earlier this week to the university’s website, argued that providing “equity pathways” for prospective med students “will make the TMU admissions process more rigorous — not less.”
“And while we have established equity pathways, similar to other schools in the province, we have no quotas and there have never been quotas around who we will accept. We understand that aspirational language on the website was causing confusion on this point, and that language has been removed. While our approach to the pathways may evolve over time, our commitment to fostering a school that produces exceptional doctors as diverse as the communities they will serve, remains steadfast.”
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TMU’s new medical school in Brampton, Ont. is expecting more than 5,000 applicants for 94 spots. Up until last week, the school was saying three-quarters of those would be designated for students who are Black, Indigenous, or from “equity-deserving” groups. The latter includes those who identify as LGBTQ, disabled, poor, and “racialized people.”
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TMU has recently adjusted its admissions webpage.
“For the 2025 admissions cycle, a total of 94 seats are available. It is expected that 25 per cent of students will be admitted through the General Admissions Stream and 75 per cent collectively through the Indigenous, Black, and Equity-Deserving admissions pathways,” is how it used to read.
The description now reads: “For the 2025 admissions cycle, a total of 94 seats are available. Our admissions process is designed to remove systemic barriers for excellent students who traditionally face challenges in accessing medical education. Through the use of dedicated pathways, TMU School of Medicine will admit a student body that is rich in diversity and lived experiences.”
It’s unclear when TMU changed its website.
TMU has not responded to requests to explain what’s changed within the med-school’s admission policy.
“Our priority is putting the most qualified Ontario students first,” said Dayna Smockum, director of communications for Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
“We understand TMU has now clarified their position and that the previously reported policy has been removed. Overall, we need the best and the brightest students at our medical schools and in our hospitals — anything less is unacceptable. By requiring 95 per cent of undergrad medical students to be from Ontario, we are building up our already strong home-grown medical system to ensure that happens.”
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Last week, Dr. Dominick Shelton, the TMU med school’s dean of admissions, told National Post that there are many groups in medicine “that traditionally have been under-represented … That is an important part of why we (created) all these pathways in order to bridge that gap.”
TMU’s application deadline for entry next September is Dec. 2. “We have no question that we’ll be able to fill those seats,” Shelton said last week.
The school has faced criticism for not requiring applicants to write the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). The university says it is “one of seven Canadian medical schools that does not require the MCAT as it has been widely recognized as a barrier to medical education access and not an accurate predictor of professional acumen and skill.”
TMU has also faced criticism for only requiring applicants to complete a four-year undergraduate degree of any type with a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.3, or B+.
It points out that three out of six other medical schools in the province have lower GPA minimum requirements.
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