With the novel coronavirus outbreak prompting class cancellations at Western University in London and Laurentian University in Sudbury, thousands of students at Toronto's three largest universities have signed online petitions calling for their classes to be cancelled or held online as well.

Western announced on Thursday night that classes from Friday to Tuesday would be cancelled, and that classes would resume online on March 18.

Laurentian told students on Wednesday that all classes would be moved online until further notice.

Oshawa’s Ontario Tech University also announced on Thursday night that Friday classes would be cancelled and Durham College is cancelling classes until Monday.

Ruby Resome, a second-year journalism student at Ryerson University, started one such petition on Thursday afternoon after hearing news about the cancellations of various sports leagues as well as classes at other universities around the world.

She and her friends circulated her petition on Instagram and within eight hours, it had amassed over 2,100 signatures.

The province has ordered the cancellation of classes for public schools until April 5, but the order does not apply to post-secondary institutions.

“I definitely think the school has the funds and the need to continue the rest of the semester online,” said Resome. “I just think that they needed a little bit of a push from the student body to actually make that happen.”

Ryerson declined to comment on the petition when asked, but referred the Star to its website, where it posts COVID-19-related updates. As of Thursday evening, the university says that it is continuing normal operations and has been following the advice of public heath officials.

Resome said she hasn’t seen any event cancellations — her CPR training is still scheduled to take place on campus this Sunday. But the University of Toronto released a statement on Thursday mid-afternoon recommending cancelling or postponing events that aren’t part of courses and academic requirements.

Over 10,000 people have also signed an online petition calling on U of T to cancel classes.

U of T says that it is “actively planning for the possibility that the current pandemic may affect our operations.” has and cancelled university activity abroad until June 1 and is working with students already abroad to support them in either staying or planning for an early return. But classes and other academic activities have not been cancelled.

Alex Forgay, a third-year geography student at U of T, is calling on his school to cancel classes. He notes that some first-year lectures at U of T have more than 1,000 students and health officials have advised the public to avoid large gatherings.

“It’s very frustrating that you have to make a decision between your own well-being … and your own academic future,” said Forgay.

Some instructors have taken it upon themselves to make accomodations. Forgay said one of his professors is letting him do a group presentation online after two of his group memebers were asked by health officials to stay home for the next week.

Another petition calling on York University to cancel classes has also amassed over 10,000 signatures. York University announced on Wednesday that all academic programming and other activities are proceeding as scheduled, but is cancelling university-related travel to 10 countries and regions defined by the Canadian government as having a high number of COVID-19 cases.

OCAD University is also continuing classes, but has cancelled its graduate exhibition scheduled to take place from April 29 to May 3.

Universities Canada, which is the voice of universities nationwide, says its members are taking directives from public health agencies and are prioritizing the health if its community.

“Universities have contingency plans in place should the situation escalate, and are individually assessing the needs and unique circumstances of their communities and acting accordingly,” said spokesperson Alison Evans.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

David Lindsay, president and CEO of Council of Ontario Universities, says the province’s universities have “detailed pandemic plans that address the specific conditions of their institutions” and are “well positioned to respond to local challenges as they emerge.”

Similarly, Colleges Ontario, an advocacy group representing the province’s public colleges, says members are in regular contact with public health officials.

“Every college has extensive pandemic plans and protocols but there hasn’t been a case at this point where a college has had to cancel classes,” said spokesperson Rob Savage. “The sector’s vice-presidents of academic are currently discussing options. Those options will be presented (Friday) to college presidents during a system-wide teleconference meeting that Colleges Ontario is co-ordinating.”

TY Tom Yun is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @thetomyun

Read more about: