From: Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President & Provost
Date: September 16, 2022
Re: Retirement of Catherine Gagne, Senior Strategist

After over 30 years of continuous service to the University of Toronto, Catherine Gagne will be retiring on September 30, 2022. In her decades at the University, Catherine has brought her talents and sense of service to a wide range of senior roles, including Registrar at the Rotman School of Management, CAO for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, Senior Manager in the Office of Planning and Budget, and CAO for the Division of the Vice-President and Provost.  

In these roles, Catherine contributed to multiple major institutional projects such as the Provincial Access To Opportunities Program enrolment growth initiative and the construction of the Bahen Centre; design and implementation of the University’s ‘new’ budget model; the formation of a new vice-presidential portfolio for communications; the restructuring of OISE; and the establishment of the tri-campus Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre in response to provincial legislation. She participated in many review teams that resulted in process redesign, including the capital projects process review in 2010 and the research overhead task force in 1993.

She leaves the University having spent 30 months during the pandemic implementing the commitments of the Presidential and Provostial response to the Task Force on Student Mental Health. As the Senior Strategist, Student Mental Health Initiatives, she has worked within a dedicated team to enact a process redesign of student mental health services and transition the project deliverables to on-going operations, including creation of a portal to help students find supports and services; use of a common Electronic Medical Record by tri-campus health centres; and adoption of a new stepped model of care for mental health services delivery.

At the core of Catherine’s understated approach was a keen ability to solve problems with creative and effective solutions, always focused on enabling the goals of the University.

Catherine received the Chancellor’s Award as Influential Leader in 2011 and many accolades and awards during her career at U of T. She completed a Master of Information at U of T in 2017. Over the years she generously shared her wealth of experience through mentoring staff one-on-one, in keeping with her strong belief in knowledge transfer as one of the most important roles a senior administrator can play in contributing to the success of the organization.

The University of Toronto is a better place thanks to Catherine’s extraordinary service over the years. We are extremely grateful for her dedication to the University, and wish her the very best for her retirement.