TeachingCity Oshawa releases Annual Snapshot highlighting local collaborative projects

The City of Oshawa and its education and research partners – Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Trent University Durham GTA, and the University of Toronto’s Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering – are pleased to announce that the TeachingCity Oshawa 2025/2026 Annual Snapshot is now available online.

The Annual Snapshot details accomplishments from the partnership’s ninth year, highlighting notable applied research, experiential learning and curriculum-based projects, including:

Oshawa Strategic Plan Photography

Durham College Photography students contributed images inspired by the City’s Strategic Plan. The Oshawa Strategic Plan 2024 – 2027: Innovate. Belong. Care. Lead. is the City’s highest policy document, outlining the long-term vision, corporate mission and priority areas that guide future actions.

As part of their curriculum, students explored the community and captured elements from the Plans’ key pillars. They received access to City spaces, community events and local businesses, and were introduced to programs and services across departments.

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

Developing a Cybersecurity Talent Pipeline

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 defence 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.

Culture Plan Post-Secondary Engagement

With the renewal of the City’s Culture Plan, there was a unique opportunity to include extensive community engagement, with 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. 

Post-secondary engagement has been a key focus throughout the Plan’s development, including campus pop-ups at the three local post-secondary partner institutions and student-led focus groups supported by a Community Conversation Toolkit.

Once the action and implementation plan is finalized, faculty researchers from each institution will help validate the Plan, review its components and refine action items. Faculty may also contribute content that grounds the final strategic directions in theory and research across culture, community development, the arts, the creative sector and entrepreneurship, while sharing their vision for the future of Oshawa.

Student placements

The City provided 111 work-integrated learning opportunities for TeachingCity students through placement, practicum or co-ops. Students developed real-life applied skills while bringing new ideas and fresh perspectives to City departments to help support the achievement of City initiatives.  

About TeachingCity

TeachingCity brings together the City of Oshawa and its education and research partners – Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Trent University Durham GTA and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

The partners address Oshawa’s urban issues through innovation, collaboration, applied research and shared experiential learning opportunities with the aim to position Oshawa as a local, national and global community of urban research and learning.

Learn more about TeachingCity at teachingcityoshawa.ca.