Projects

Durham College photography student and avid visual storyteller, Ayomide (Ayo) Kuye, received the opportunity to provide dedicated photography for the City of Oshawa’s 25^th Annual Bob Peters Classic Charity Golf Tournament. A long-standing tradition, the tournament brings together golfers, sponsors, and community members to raise funds for United Way Durham Region. Photography plays a key role in showcasing the event and recognizing the sponsors who make it possible.

Ayo used his skills to capture the day from golfer arrivals, registration, and pre-event atmosphere, group photos of teams and participants, action shots of golfers throughout the course, candid moments, sponsor signage, branded hole activations and other event festivities. Ayo’s creative eye along with his soft skills in participant interaction contributed to “a cut above par” in capturing this annual moment.

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With the renewal of the City’s Culture Plan, there was an opportunity to include extensive community engagement, including participation from students and faculty through our TeachingCity partnership. Providing a dedicated medium to explore the student voice and faculty lens is important as Oshawa’s student population and educational sector continues to grow. Throughout the plan’s development, post-secondary engagement has been a key focus with identifiable phases that include the following elements:

• Phase 1 | Pop-ups: In November 2025, City staff attended the campuses of three local post-secondary institutions partnered with TeachingCity to engage with students and faculty, collect their feedback and promote online survey options.
• Phase 2 | Focus Group Activation: In January 2026, a Community Conversation Toolkit was developed to support student-led focus groups in classrooms and school groups.
• Phase 3 | Academic Lens Plan Review: Once City staff finalize the action and implementation plan, faculty researchers from each institution will help validate the plan, review its components and refine action items. In addition, faculty may contribute content that helps ground the final strategic directions in theory and research across areas such as culture, community development, the arts, the creative sector and entrepreneurship, while also sharing their vision for the future of Oshawa.

To learn more and keep updated on the City’s Culture Plan development, visit Culture Plan | Connect Oshawa.         
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Ontario Tech University’s Institute for Cybersecurity and Resilient Systems  is continuing its partnership with the City’s Information Technology Services (ITS) team to develop and operate a Security Operations Centre (SOC) where students provide an added line of defense to the City’s cybersecurity. Students are provided with a unique real-life training environment, monitoring the City’s public Wi-Fi for threats and tracking recurring issues for the cybersecurity team. The SOC student team also receives diverse sector training from two leading cybersecurity industry partners, Fortinet and Trend Micro. The program is designed to provide a future pipeline of qualified candidates for entry-level cybersecurity positions within the City’s ITS team and other local employers.

As the project enters its second year, additional approved Mitacs-matched funding will support a research component focused on strengthening SOC training. The research will develop and evaluate an evidence-based framework for integrating critical soft skills, specifically communication efficiency and adaptive decision-making, into SOC training to improve real-world cybersecurity performance in threat-analysis environments.

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The City’s Capital Project Delivery team is continuing its work in the development of a Green Building Standards Guide. The guide will support the decision-making process of Corporate Green Building Standard development.

In phase 1, which took place in the winter of 2025, Yetunde Ayoade, a student from Durham College’s Environmental Technology program, investigated the components of relevant standards/codes, to compare commonly implemented green building strategies. Community and Corporate Green Building Standards of other Canadian municipalities were included in the review. The review prioritized strategies related to building energy performance within the various standards, while taking note of related objectives that interact with the built environment. Interacting objectives include light pollution reduction, watershed management, building resilience, bird-friendly design and other environmentally significant standards. 

Phase 2, which started in summer 2026, proposes the creation of the actual Green Building Standards (GBS) Decision Guide, which quantifies the impact of common green building practices on various environmental targets. These include carbon reductions, lighting quality, air quality, energy use, renewable energy and water conservation.

During this phase, Saad Basheer, an Energy Engineering student in Ontario Tech University’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, joined the project. Saad has expertise in energy modelling, which will support the evaluation of the suggested green building specifications and their impact on building performance. By isolating the impact of individual green building measures on an archetypal new building (for new construction standards), or an existing City facility (for retrofit/renovation standards), Saad will help identify and prioritize the green standards with the greatest potential to reduce carbon emissions. In addition to continuing the work started in phase 1, he will support the development of an Energy Management Dashboard in Microsoft Power BI to visualize key data and support decision-making.

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Students from Durham College’s Recreation and Leisure Services collaborated with the City’s Human Resource (HR) Services to review existing wellness programs and provide recommendations for future improvements.

Using the six dimensions of wellness: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social, and environmental, the students conducted a jurisdictional scan of other municipalities and businesses in Ontario, researched applicable legislation, identified relevant Canadian standards, and pitched ideas to senior HR staff on April 16. Recommendations focused on using existing City facilities and spaces and developing a rotating departmental wellness calendar to keep costs and capacity low.

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The City of Oshawa is a member of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program, managed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The program is a national network of more than 400 municipalities with the shared goal of taking action against climate change and reducing local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Members commit to developing corporate (City operations) and community (City-wide) action plans to support emissions-reduction initiatives.

In 2020, the City of Oshawa endorsed the Community GHG Reduction Plan as a guideline to reduce City-wide energy costs, energy consumption and GHG emissions. As part of the Plan, staff report to City Council every five years to show the City’s progress towards GHG-reduction targets and key metrics.

The City’s Planning Services Branch collaborated with Ontario Tech University’s Dr. Dan Hoornweg, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, as well as Ontario Tech Energy Engineering student Adam Ristau, and community expert David Wotten, to support the 2025 update to the City’s Community GHG Reduction Plan. This included preparing a community GHG inventory report based on data from 2020 to 2024, and a summary report of the key metrics identified in the plan. The team also prepared a summary report of new technologies and developments, and additional opportunities to reduce community emissions.

These reports and recommendations were presented to the Economic and Development Services Committee on December 5 and adopted by Council on December 15. The thoroughness of this project enabled the City to receive full recognition for all five PCP milestones.

To learn more about this achievement, read the City News Story.

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Matthew Maciejewski , a Communications student from the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech University, spent the winter semester working alongside the City’s Organizational Development and Employee Communications team to support internal communications and the implementation of our new employee intranet. Matthew also led an initiative to showcase the City’s Human Resource Services team through a modern and approachable profile video.

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Four students from the Durham College Civil Engineering Technician Program completed placements supporting the Chief Materials Inspector in the laboratory at City Hall. During their placements, they assisted with testing construction materials, reviewing soil and materials reports, and performing equipment correlation checks.

These experiential learning opportunities provided valuable hands-on learning, supporting students in developing practical skills that will support future summer co-op jobs and full-time careers in engineering.

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Oshawa Fire Services (OFS) has been in collaborative discussions with Durham College’s MRC Studio to fill a gap in OFS captaincy training. The project aims to develop a mixed reality (XR) training and assessment application for OFS. The application will simulate the survey and assessment of a virtual building during a fire call, allowing firefighter candidates preparing for captaincy roles to evaluate hazards and determine appropriate response strategies.

Users will physically walk through a large open space while viewing and interacting with the simulated environment. During the exercise, they will assess fire conditions, identify risks, and verbally or interactively indicate the appropriate resources and response strategies to deploy.

The system will include multiple scenario variations, enabling different learning and testing opportunities. By replacing or supplementing resource-intensive real-world simulations, the application will provide a repeatable, controlled, and safer environment for captaincy examinations and training.

Three Game Art graduates will be hired through matched Mitacs funding to support this project. Stay tuned for the next round as this project is just getting started!

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Fire 911 Communications is an exciting career, and Oshawa Fire Services’ new Fire Communications Centre expands local educational opportunities for students. Through TeachingCity, Oshawa Fire Services and Durham College have formalized an ongoing collaboration that provides student placements and observational learning within Fire Communications.

These placements offer students valuable exposure to the dynamic and high-responsibility environment of Fire 911 telecommunications. The program supports mentorship, experiential learning, and potential recruitment pathways for the next generation of emergency communications professionals. Nikki Bradshaw was among the first OFS student placements and later applied for a position within the department. She was successful in the recruitment process and is now training as part of our Fire Communications team!

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Durham College Photography students from different courses across the program supported the compilation of photos inspired by the City’s Strategic Plan. The Oshawa Strategic Plan 2024 – 2027: Innovate. Belong. Care. Lead. is the City’s highest policy document. The Plan identifies a vision for the long-term future, refines the City’s corporate mission and sets out a series of priority areas, goals and actions to move towards the vision.

To realize this vision, these four priority areas have been identified, supported with specific goals and action items:

• INNOVATE: vibrant culture and economy
• BELONG: inclusive and healthy community
• CARE: safe and sustainable environment
•  LEAD: governance and service excellence

Students were provided with opportunities to explore the community, capturing elements from the plans’ key pillars. Students were provided access to City spaces, community events and local businesses, and were introduced to programs and services across departments as part of their curriculum learning.

The City now has a curated photography collection showcasing local student work, that highlights Oshawa’s greatest assets and supports future communication efforts.

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The City’s Recreation Services branch offered a Political Science student from Ontario Tech University’s Faculty of Social Science and Humanities the opportunity to assist with the collection, review and revision of Standard Operating Procedures within the branch. This experience provided valuable exposure to interdepartmental collaboration, benchmarking practices, engagement with local municipalities, and the preparation and presentation of information to the branch’s Leadership Team.

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Over the winter semester, Durham College’s Architectural Technology students, supported by the City of Oshawa’s Planning Services branch, were challenged to reimagine several properties along the designated new transit corridor in central Oshawa. Students were directed to adapt each site to align with the future planned vision for the area, with a focus on integrated transit use.

Working in teams, students completed due diligence and cost analysis, considered market demand for different types of development, reviewed policy and regulations that apply to their specific site, and then created development proposals. Topics discussed with Planning Services included affordable housing, sustainability, pedestrian experience, active and public transportation, and Oshawa’s long-term vision. At the end of the semester, students hosted an open house at City Hall to present their work to Planning Services staff for feedback.

The Site Planning and Analysis course gave students the opportunity to step into the role of urban developers and learn how to analyze the many factors that impact how land is planned, used, and designed, and to bring their ideas to life through a 2D site plan, 3D models, digital renderings, and other creative visual tools. This practical experience provided valuable insight into the real-world challenges and considerations that shape successful land development projects in Ontario.

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Quinn Ingram and Aishah Tabassum, students from Ontario Tech University’s Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, supported project development, coordination and marketing for TeachingCity as part of their placements. They were each assigned dedicated research projects related to City-led diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Throughout their respective semesters, they also assisted with the work of several City advisory committees and associated community initiatives, along with ongoing policy review work for Licensing Services.

Fine Art students from Durham College’s Community Collaborations course have spent the past year working with the City’s Culture Development team to incorporate student artwork into existing wayfinding signage along the Joseph Kolodzie BikeTrail. Potential themes for students to consider included active transportation, environmental sustainability, the intersection of urban and natural spaces, wildlife, sounds of the city, along with historical and ecologically relevant information specific to the trail.

The course included a field trip to the trail last September to inspire students.  The Public Art Task Force selected six student artworks. Panels were installed in May and launched publicly for Parks and Rec month in June.

Durham College Fine Art students have contributed to temporary public art displays throughout the city, including the mural at Civic Square, the windows of the Arts Resource Centre, Alexandra Park and at Oshawa recreation facilities.

To learn more about this project, read the City News Story.

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Fine Art students from Durham College’s Community Collaborations course were offered the opportunity to develop artwork for display in multiple City recreation facilities. Students followed the Public Art Task Force application process to submit their work. The theme chosen was inspired by the Oshawa Strategic Plan 2024 – 2027: Innovate. Belong. Care. Lead. and is centered around the pillar, Care, speaking to the City’s commitment to a safe and sustainable environment.

A total of nine student artworks were reproduced and curated specifically for each location. Installations were completed on October 30 at Civic Recreation Complex, Delpark Homes Centre, Northview Community Centre, Donevan Recreation Complex and South Oshawa Community Centre.

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The park’s wayfinding system helps visitors explore the space, learn about its amenities, and understand the park’s purpose and placemaking features.

The wayfinding app includes:

• General park information
• Interesting facts about the building and ecology of the park
• The significant impact of Ed Broadbent as a public figure in Oshawa
• The significance of the Human Rights Garden
• The significance of the Orange Garden
• Information about the Stage and Amphitheatre

The app offers a 360-degree viewing feature, an auditory tour guide for accessibility, and direct links to City information such as Events in the Park and Facility Bookings.

The app began as a winter 2025 curriculum-based project, developed by students with input from City staff on the newly constructed park. In summer 2025, Media, Art and Design graduate and team lead Charlize San Gabriel was hired to finalize and test the wayfinding experience for a late-fall launch.

The City was successful in receiving a $5000 grant from Central Counties Tourism Partnership to cover the cost of the park’s wayfinding signage. Installation was completed on October 20, 2025. Spring/Summer 2026 marks the app’s first season of use and early visitation data from wayfinding scans shows The Orange Garden is a public favourite.

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Students from Trent University Durham GTA’s first cohort of Logistics & Supply Chain capstone worked with the City’s Procurement team and DEI Advisor to research and develop a Social Procurement Policy framework.

The student team was set out to define the social outcomes and policy objectives, research municipalities and their social procurement policies, ensure legal, trade, and ethical compliance, define scope, applicability and thresholds, conduct an analysis of the supplier market, assess internal readiness, tools and processes for implementing the policy, draft a Social Procurement Policy, and define how results will be measured and develop risk mitigation strategies.

The student team pivoted from the initial project scope and began focusing on how to transform a social procurement process into a tool for youth employment and workforce development. They also conducted extensive research that can inform future efforts to support youth employment in Oshawa.

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During the 2025–2026 academic year, Municipal Law Enforcement Services (MLES) continued its partnership with Durham College and Ontario Tech University by providing experiential learning opportunities for students enrolled in programs such as Police Foundations and Criminology.

The unique program offered semester-long placements to two students, who accompanied MLES staff one day per week, as well as one-day observational opportunities for six additional students. Participants were selected through a competitive application and interview process to ensure the placement aligned with their educational and career goals.

Through their placements, students gained first-hand exposure to the diverse responsibilities of Municipal Law Enforcement Officers, including public interactions, by-law enforcement, customer service, parking enforcement, animal-related calls, and property standards inspections. Students also learned how to interpret legislation, conduct investigations, gather and document evidence, and apply effective communication techniques in a variety of situations.

A key focus of the program is officer safety and professional communication. Students observed how officers use conflict resolution and de-escalation strategies to manage challenging situations while maintaining a professional and respectful approach.

The opportunity provides valuable insight into the dynamic nature of municipal law enforcement, helping students develop practical skills and gain a deeper understanding of the profession. Participants were evaluated on their engagement and performance and were encouraged to take an active role in their learning experience.

Many former placement students have successfully secured seasonal employment opportunities with the City of Oshawa, and some have gone on to become permanent employees after completing their post-secondary education. MLES is proud to continue this program, supporting the development of future law enforcement professionals while strengthening community-based learning and engagement.

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