First Silver Fair Trade Campus – University of Toronto Mississauga

We are pleased to announce that the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) is designated as the first Silver Fair Trade Campus in Canada.

UTM was designated as a Fair Trade Campus in September 2016. Since their designation, they have driven demand across their campus for more fair trade product availability, and challenged the Fair Trade Program partners to recognize these efforts to go above and beyond the base designation criteria. A spokesperson for UTM explained: “We continue to push forward and be better each year by bringing in more Fairtrade certified products, hosting more events, and educating the UTM community in more interactive and effective ways.”

Silver and Gold designations were developed in order to recognize a campus’ efforts, such as those of UTM, to deepen their commitment to the fair trade movement and increase the impact for producers in the Global South by increasing demand and sales of fair trade products.

Julie Francoeur, Executive Director of Fairtrade Canada, congratulated UTM. “This first Silver designation is a real achievement for everyone at UTM who has worked so hard to broaden the reach of fair trade across the campus. A huge thank you to the team for pushing to get more Fairtrade certified products in food outlets, and finding creative ways to engage students and staff.”

Sean McHugh, Executive Director of CFTN, also spoke about the significance of the designation. “It is with great pleasure that we congratulate the University of Toronto Mississauga on this milestone achievement! We really enjoy working with the team, and I don’t doubt that there is more to come from them with their support for fair trade and their push for sustainability.”

Learn more about UTM’s Silver designation here, and if you’re on campus be sure to attend the celebration in the Grand Hall on January 28 from 11am to 2pm.