“This is a moment 20 years in the making,” says NOSM University head

THUNDER BAY – The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) becomes NOSM University—the first independent medical university in Canada—effective April 1, 2022.

“This is a profound and historic moment for the NOSM community, and its impact will be felt across Northern Ontario and beyond,” says Dr. Sarita Verma, President, Vice Chancellor and Dean of NOSM University. “We are grateful to Minister Dunlop and the Ford government for this incredible commitment to health education in the North and our renewed focus on health equity across our vast region.”

“NOSM University—fully accredited and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our peer institutions—will shape what it means to be an independent medical university in Canada,” Dr. Verma continued. “We know that our cost effective, innovative, community-based learning model, our trusted partnerships, and our purpose-built mission to bring health equity to Northern Ontarians is working. We will advance the national conversation about what health justice in the rural and remote North really looks like—and who can deliver it.”

Since its establishment in 2002, NOSM has blazed trails in its short history. The unique, distributed, community-engaged learning model has grown into something extraordinary. This model requires strong ties and engagement with remote, rural, Indigenous and Francophone communities. NOSM University has partnerships and collaborations with more than 500 organizations, in 90+ communities, and more than 1,800 faculty dispersed across all of Northern Ontario.

“The Ontario government is committed to supporting high-quality postsecondary education in Northern Ontario,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities. “We recognize that our northern institutions are essential to ensuring we have a skilled workforce in the North, and by establishing NOSM University as an independent, publicly-assisted university, we will enable it to grow in ways that best serve their students and local communities.”

“This is the University you didn’t know Canada needed,” says Dr. Verma. “For everyone who has been involved along the way, this is a moment some 20 years in the making. In just a short time, we made history and we will continue to do it again, and again.”

Interview with Dr. Verma June 4, 2021

NOSM University will build upon its flagship campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay.