This guide was last updated March 22, 2025.
Although the University of Toronto has many student groups, there may come a time when you’re looking to start your own. It can be a great way to build a community and share interests. However, in my experience, getting started was quite the headache – I hope this guide will help you plan in advance to make efforts easier. As there are a lot of requirements for certain goals (e.g., getting funding) that take time, I suggest reading the guide in its entirety to minimize waiting time.
Starting Out
Say you have an idea for something you’d like to do. Do you want to make your own club in the first place? It will definitely take up more time and energy than simply participating in another club.
It might be helpful to check out UofT’s Student Groups for something that might be similar. However, perhaps the club that you’re interested in is inactive, or perhaps it’s an activity that’s best done with a relatively smaller group of people (see: a book club, of which there’s at least 7 on campus, one of which being UofT Reads which I run).
In the event that you are committed to starting your own club, I would suggest first running a few casual events with people who are interested. Even if it is one or two other people, having other hands involved will make the subsequent steps much easier.
Registering with UofT
The first step that I would recommend is registering with the UofT Student Organization Portal. This is what determines whether you can officially claim yourself as a campus student group; it opens doors such as using the UofT name, booking rooms, and more.
Applying for Recognition
First, check out the SOP application requirements.
You’ll need to write a constitution – there is a template in the above link – and have at least five members to fill administrative officers and other positions. Two of those five members (you can count as one of them) will be permitted to book rooms, rent equipment, etc., so it will be helpful to have someone you trust take on that position.
Your application will be pending. In my experience, it took a couple of months to hear back; I’ve heard of it taking longer, though. However, there is nothing to say you can’t still meet with interested members/team while you wait.
Additional notes on the constitution
Please refer to the Get Help Writing Your Constitution Page from the Student Life Office resources for all policies and standard practices related to student groups. For additional questions, you can email the Student Life team (clubs@utoronto.ca)
Booking Rooms and Hosting Events
Once you have official recognition from the University of Toronto – this is separate from recognition from a college, or from the UTSU, etc. – you are allowed to book rooms for your events on the Uoft Learning Space Management (LSM) website. The link to this will be emailed to you, and you will need to log in with your UTORID. It is pretty straightforward – there is a list of available rooms that you can select to find one that perfectly suits your needs. Some room images are available, but if there are none, you can Google the rooms or look on the LSM’s Sync Search app for photos.
Rooms themselves are free to book, but if you want to access their audio-visual system for presentations, etc., there may be a possibility that you will have to pay. Other than that, you have to make sure to book rooms at least 6 business days before the actual event. You have to be especially careful around times when the university closes, for example, for winter break, as you cannot book rooms during that time.
If you made an email account for your club that is not your own personal email or UofT email, I highly recommend setting up automatic forwarding from your club email to your personal email, as all room booking communications will be sent there first. You may occasionally need the room booking confirmations that are emailed to you to access the room on the day of.
If you are registered with another group, for example, the University of Toronto Student Union (UTSU), they will also typically offer resources to host events. For example, the UTSU allows you to book space in the Student Commons and apply for locker space. For more information on getting recognition from UTSU, please visit their website
Opening a student group bank account
Although you might have university recognition as a student group, it does not inherently come with any funding. Below, I will cover a few ways to acquire funding. First, however, you may need to consider creating a club bank account. While a bank account isn’t required to start your student group, depending on the type of financial support you receive, having a student group bank account may make things easier.
This cannot be your own bank account, and the account needs at least two signatories. Any time you make any banking changes, all signatories must be present – so be sure you get people whom you trust and have a similar schedule to you. What you’re looking for is essentially a non-profit bank account. You’ll need a bank recognition form to open the account, which you can get through this link. Again, the form requires the information of the two signatories, so be sure you have those people in mind. Fill this out in advance of when you need funding, too, because it took me a couple of weeks to get the form back.
After you’ve received the form, you can go to pretty much any bank and open an account. There are different deals and service fees for each bank, so you might want to do some additional research on your own. In my experience, I ended up going with RBC simply because of its proximity to the University of Toronto; they have some people in the Student Commons on College. I tried to go with CIBC initially, actually, but had trouble reaching them over the phone as I could not simply open an account in the College/Spadina branch. You’ll likely want to set up an appointment to open the account; even at the Uoft RBC branch, I was unable to just walk in with the other signatory and open the account. Also, be sure to pick a location that is efficient and convenient to you for this appointment; in my experience, RBC requested I return to the original branch where I opened the account when trying to make changes to the account.
Nonetheless, once you’ve opened an account, you’ll want to keep some key information (typically found on a void cheque). Again, make sure this is all done in advance of any tight deadlines, as it may take a few business days for everything to go through. This banking information will typically be used for acquiring funding.
A few bank account notes: it will be possible to reimburse purchases not directly made on the club bank account. However, I’m still trying to figure out the best procedure for that. Depending on the type of business account you have, you may be able to withdraw cash, e-transfer, or write a cheque. Be careful of transaction limits. Also, be sure that point-of-sale transactions are enabled on your account if you ever plan on making purchases on behalf of your club in person.
UTSU Funding
I’ll talk briefly about applying for funding through the UTSU, as that is my only experience. You have to separately apply for recognition and funding; this can be found online at their current website. See their website for all the details, but in short, you’ll need at least 20 members (e.g., names, emails, etc.) and 50% of your club to be full-time undergraduate University of Toronto students (any campus is OK). Typically, the deadline for applying for registration is in November.
Once you have applied for registration, you can apply for funding. Here, you’ll need the banking information previously mentioned, alongside annual and event budgets and a transaction ledger. They request receipts for club purchases, so be sure to keep those. Typically, for a first-year club, you will receive a maximum of $500. For more information, you can once again look on the UTSU website. The deadline for funding is typically in March and is made on a rolling basis.
A small note: the website mentions that you will typically receive funding in two instalments (50% each instalment) and that you will need to submit updated financial documents for the remaining 50%. In my experience, I received it all upfront, but it is something to keep in mind and be prepared for nonetheless.
It may also be possible to request to become a levy partner; this means students will pay a small price included in their ancillary fees. This has to be approved by the UTSU and will be put to a referendum where all undergraduate students can vote. A notable example is the UofT Bikechain student group. I personally have never tried to go through this process, so if you’re interested, you will likely want to contact UTSU directly.
Other Funding Sources - Departments and Colleges
If your group is a computer-science-related club, you may be able to receive funding from the Department of Computer Science (DCS). DCS provides funding and support (i.e room bookings, promotion CS Undergrad Quercus, etc) to several student groups that have a large presence in the CS community and/or groups that target their events to CS students. For more information, please email cs.undergrad@utoronto.ca. You may also receive funding from the Faculty of Engineering; UTMIST, for example, receives funding from DCS and the Faculty of Engineering.
It is also possible to receive funding from a college. For example, Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council VUSAC oversees clubs and levy groups. To register with VUSAC, you need at least one of the club heads to be a member of Vic, and 70% of your whole executive team must be Vic students. Upon registration, you can then request a budget from VUSAC and book space for events in the Vic campus. This kind of affiliation is particularly useful for clubs that aim to recruit members from a particular college. Depending on your college, look into the support they provide to student groups.
Please note that the funding sources I mention above are ones I am aware of. There may be other ways to receive funding from different sources, so I suggest completing your own research.
Advertising
In my experience, word of mouth is the most effective. Knowing your demographic is also particularly useful; for clubs geared towards students in computer science, having an active Discord community is typically a good way to create engagement. Many clubs also advertise heavily on Instagram. If you are a registered student group with the university, you can also create public events, although how effective that is at reaching students is unclear.