Regis College, Toronto

Regis College is a theological college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1930 and affiliated with the Society of Jesus. It is an entirely postgraduate college and a member institution of the Toronto School of Theology.HistoryFoundationRegis College began as the Jesuit philosophy college on Wellington Street in downtown Toronto in September 1930. It then offered philosophy programmes to Jesuit scholastics preparing for priesthood. It was in 1943 that the programme of offerings was expanded to include theology. In 1954, the Jesuit seminary was formally named Collegium Christi Regis, The College of Christ the King. In 1956 Regis College was accredited as a pontifical faculty (a status it retains) by becoming the School of Theology of St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and thus became able to offer ecclesiastical degrees in theology.Bayview Avenue siteIn 1961, the college moved to a new site on Bayview Avenue in Willowdale, Toronto. There, it taught exclusively theology. The 40 acre site, was offered to the Jesuits as a location for the college by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1958.In 1969, Regis College was one of the founding colleges of the Toronto School of Theology. Within its own federation, the University of Toronto granted all but the theology or divinity degrees.