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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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UOIT Engineering students take part in sacred Iron Ring ceremony

Canada’s Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer carries 95 years of tradition

A group of proud 2017 University of Ontario Institute of Technology engineers celebrate receiving their Iron Ring at a ceremony at the Regent Theatre (March 18, 2017).
A group of proud 2017 University of Ontario Institute of Technology engineers celebrate receiving their Iron Ring at a ceremony at the Regent Theatre (March 18, 2017).

For Canadian Engineering students, receiving the iron ring is both a cherished rite of passage and a symbol of the responsibilities and ethics associated with their chosen profession.

On March 18 more than 300 University of Ontario Institute of Technology Engineering student participated in The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, a ceremony that dates back to 1922 and is held at universities across Canada. During the event, future engineers receive an iron ring, which they wear on the little finger of their working hand. The ceremony reminds newly qualified engineers of their obligation to adhere to a high standard of professional conduct. It also gives experienced engineers a formal opportunity to welcome and support newer graduates as they enter the engineering community.

The university is part of Camp 1, the oldest of 26 branches of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, the body that administers the ceremony across Canada. Camp 1 runs the ceremony for all Greater Toronto Area universities. 

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