Meaford’s council chamber had an overflowing gallery after a number of residents attended a public planning meeting held on Monday, May 4 to share their concerns about a zoning amendment request from the owners of the former Georgian Bay Secondary School property on St. Vincent Street.
The former school property was purchased in the summer of 2023, and the new owners said at the time that they planned to establish a trade school, which they named the Toronto Excellence College, including 80 on-site dormitories on the property. At the time of the initial announcement, the school’s website suggested that they hoped to be operating by September 2024, and that proposed date had not been adjusted in the years since.
The zoning amendment request is seeking a site-specific exception for the property that would allow the use of the property as a privately owned college that would include 79 dormitories housed in three new buildings. The property is currently zoned Urban Institutional, which restricts the permitted uses to those that were existing in September 2009. Meaford’s Official Plan designates the property as Urban Living Area.
“The property owner intends to refurbish the existing school building on-site to fit the needs of the college and to construct three dormitories along the east and south sides of the property. Each dormitory would be a maximum of 11 metres in height. To accommodate two of the dormitories, the proposal requests a reduced side yard setback from 4.5 metres to 4.0 metres. As some of the current parking area would be used for the dormitories, the zoning amendment proposes to allow a total of 120 parking spaces for the uses,” informed the notice of complete application dated April 14, 2026.
The operators of the proposed private college have suggested that there would be 200 students per semester.
Several residents shared their concerns with council during the public planning meeting, both in person and virtually. Staff indicated that there had been several public comments received prior to the meeting, the majority opposing the zoning amendment request.
The primary concerns expressed by residents focused on the suitability of a private college in an established residential neighbourhood, the potential for increased traffic, as well as noise from the dormitory buildings.
Some residents also expressed concern that the Bluewater District School Board has proposed building a new elementary school across the road from the former high school on Aitken Street, on the property that was formerly used as the athletic track for the high school.
Some also questioned establishing a private college with dormitories in a community that does not have public transit, fearing that most of the suggested two hundred students along with school faculty would drive to and from the college which is planned to have just 120 parking spaces.
No decision was made by council during the May 4 public meeting, which was held in order to gather public comments. Staff will provide a report to council, including a summary of public comments, at a future meeting, after which council will vote on the zoning amendment request.
Information about the proposed trade school, can be found on their website, tecollege.ca. The website does not include any information about the courses that would be offered, nor does it indicate that they have received provincial approval for their curriculum as of yet, though proponent Amaninder Bharj told council during Monday’s meeting that his organization is currently working on achieving provincial accreditation.
On their website’s frequently asked questions page, the school explains its name – the Toronto Excellence College.
“We incorporated in the year 2020 as “Toronto Engineering College”, at that point our campus search was in the Toronto area. The availability of a suitable campus is close to none in GTA. We had to extend our search radius by 100 kms from GTA. In 2022, the school building at Meaford came for sale. It was a perfect match for our needs,” the school says on their website. “We also believe that the boundaries of GTA are eventually going to grow. In the future, fast metro trains will connect towns to Toronto with travel times ranging from 30-40 minutes. With Toronto becoming so expensive to afford, all the 100 km radius towns are bound to grow.”
The school website also indicates that they expect 80 percent of their students to be domestic, with not more than 20 percent enrolment for international students.
The 11-slide presentation to council prepared for the public meeting regarding this zoning amendment request can be found on the municipal website (meaford.ca).
Members of the public can provide comments on this application in writing to planning@meaford.ca.
