The University’s 2025 Pride Breakfast once again honoured the 2SLGBTQIA+ community with a vibrant mix of games, music, face painting and drag. Attendance was nearly double that of last year, thanks to a collaboration among uOttawa, Algonquin College and Collège La Cité.
Collaboration key to a welcoming campus culture
Dakota Salva, uOttawa’s Pride Centre co-ordinator, says support for Pride activities from the broader university community creates a welcoming space for students, employees and community partners.
“When staff, professors and administrators stand alongside the queer student body, it sends a powerful message of inclusion and gives our whole community a major morale boost,” Salva says.
Diverse support services for a diverse student body
The Pride Breakfast is just one recent example of EDI in action at uOttawa, where initiatives designed to help students feel welcome and succeed in their studies are as diverse as the community itself.
Through the Student Health and Wellness Centre, students have access to a wide range of support groups led by psychotherapists, psychologists and case managers. These include the ADHD Learning Series, Autism Support Group, Support Group for International Students and 2SLGBTQIA+ Support Group, as well as groups focused on mental health issues such as eating challenges, grief and emotion regulation. The Student Health and Wellness Centre also offers gender-affirming care and assistance in finding related services.
Meanwhile, the Academic Accommodations Service ensures that students living with disabilities can participate fully in their academic environment. Supports include transcription services, assistive technologies and adapted exams, all tailored to foster an inclusive, accessible learning experience.
New initiatives maintain EDI momentum
The Accommodations Service is also deepening its integration of EDI principles in the teaching environment.
New initiatives in 2025 include a bilingual Guide to Inclusive Classrooms to help professors and teaching assistants create more accessible learning spaces, a streamlined note-taking model that has improved service delivery while reducing costs and a satellite exam centre 100 Marie Curie that expands capacity for adapted exams.
Looking ahead, collaboration between the Accommodations Service, faculties and the Teaching and Learning Support Service will guide uOttawa’s adoption of a universal design for learning (UDL) approach across campus. UDL training sessions on inclusive teaching practices are already underway, and work has begun on a UDL implementation framework, with pilot projects planned for high-enrolment courses where many students require accommodations.
Over time, these pilot projects will enable evidence-based practices that will help the University’s Student Health and Wellness team scale up its services.
At the Pride Centre, co-ordinator Salva continues to advocate for stronger 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion in uOttawa’s physical spaces. Ongoing discussions about adding gender-neutral bathrooms and changerooms mark meaningful progress toward creating a safer, more welcoming environment for trans and gender-nonconforming students.
Staff members advancing EDI organically
University employees are also playing a key role in advancing inclusiveness on campus.
In recent years, employees and allies of 2SLGBTQIA+ staff, Black employees, employees of Maghrebi descent, Spanish-speaking employees and employees living with disabilities have formed informal groups to ensure their voices are heard. These groups host networking events, organize professional development activities and provide a space to share common challenges.
Although these groups currently lack official status, discussions are under way between the Office of the Vice-Provost, EDI Excellence, and Human Resources to formally recognize them. Official recognition would strengthen their impact on campus by providing proper governance structures, access to meeting rooms and funding. Oumaima Sedrati, a special projects officer with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Excellence, notes that recognition could also encourage other communities to create their own employee resource groups, further broadening inclusion across campus.
Inclusive excellence drives excellent research
“Excellence in inclusion is essential to advancing both research and education,” says Professor Awad Ibrahim, vice-provost, equity, diversity and inclusive excellence. Through collaboration with community partners, and supported by robust resources and a welcoming spirit, uOttawa has built a campus where every student can feel at home.
