Events, Initiatives and Training

Your Healthy Workplace Committee is excited to share information about the Bird Safe Campus Initiative! OCIS is looking for volunteers to monitor buildings on both the North and Downtown campus in their spare time during the Spring migration season. Registration form: https://forms.gle/pNXVkywUvAHUdoBy6

June marks a month long celebration of biking. Not only is biking great for your cardiovascular health, but biking is also great for the environment! By choosing to bike instead of drive, you are reducing the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere.

Join the Office of Campus Infrastructure and Sustainability for an inclusive-paced community 13.7 km bike ride around Ontario Tech and Windfields Farm neighbourhood. Find the route here: https://onthegomap.com/s/b7jh31i9. Durham Region will be providing free bike bells, snacks, and resources on biking in Durham Region. Bonus: Attending the event will enter you for a chance to win a free tune-up and bike cleaning at Bicycles Plus in Whitby!

Date: Wednesday June 11, 2025

Time: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM (Bike ride starts at 12 PM, the extra 30 minutes before and after the event is for you to browse the Durham Region Booth)

Location:  Bike racks by Shawenjigewining Hall

Note: Cycling involves many inherent risks. By joining this ride you do so at your own risk. 

You must wear a helmet to join the ride.

Link to register: https://forms.gle/L1miEcdQKkMHiNhX8

June is Pollinator Month! Help the Office of Campus Infrastructure and Sustainability remove invasive plants from the campus farm to promote biodiversity and support our pollinators. We will be joined by Friends of Second Marsh!

Date: Thursday, June 19

Time: 10 AM - 1 PM (drop-in for however long you like)

Location: Campus Farm (285 Britannia Ave W)

Each participant will be briefed on safely tool use and how to identify the following invasive species: dog-strangling vine, buckthorn, garlic mustard, phragmites, and burdock. 

Feel free to bring a lunch and enjoy it at the farm after your hard work!

Link to register: https://forms.gle/yi1oa8SSyEgN45EW8

Advancement and Wellness at Work have partnered to bring you the Chancellor’s Challenge Prep: Step by Step Series.

Here’s how it works:

1. Register for weekly virtual information sessions to help get you ready for the Chancellor’s Challenge. Sessions take place every Tuesday from June 3-24 from noon - 12:30 p.m.

2. Download the Strava App and join our ‘Chancellor’s Challenge Prep: Step by Step’ club (this is a public group) to connect as a virtual team and log your physical activity.  Every Ontario Tech employee who participates in this virtual team and registers for the Chancellor’s Challenge will be entered into a draw for a swag bag.

3. If you are interested in a Chancellor’s Challenge Run/Walk Prep Club* being established to support your preparations for this event, please complete this Prep Club Expression of Interest Form by Friday, May 30, so we can determine the best date/time/location to hold the Prep Club at our first virtual information session on Tuesday, June 3.

4. Reminder: Don’t forget to register for the Chancellor’s Challenge occurring on Saturday, September 20!

If you have questions or need more information, please email wellnessatwork@ontariotechu.ca. 

For assistance registering for the Chancellor’s Challenge, please email Jodi Cowan, Community Engagement Coordinator at jodi.cowan@ontariotechu.ca.

When it comes to the health of relationships, teams, and organizations, one thing affects everything: communication. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversation skills represent the standard in effective communication. Improve your skills and get better outcomes by attending a training course.

The communication skills taught in this training focus on a specific kind of interaction: those when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. This is not a course on winning friends or winning people to your way of thinking; it’s about strengthening relationships and securing results in the moments that matter most.

This course teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better resources: Get unstuck, Master my stories, Start with heart, State my path, Make it safe, Learn to look, Seek mutual purpose, Explore others’ paths, and Move to action.

Crucial Conversations: Employees

• Date: Monday, June 16, 2025 to Friday, June 20, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
• Time: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
• Location: Virtual
• Target Audience: Employees
  Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate

Crucial Conversations: Managers/Directors

• Date: Monday, June 23,2025 to June 27, 2025 (2.5 hours x 5 days)
• Time: 9:30 a.m. to noon
• Location: Virtual
• Target Audience: Managers/Directors
  Note: Participants must attend all dates to receive their certificate.

REGISTER FOR JUNE 23-27, 2025 MANAGERS/DIRECTORS SESSION.

Whether you’re preparing for the Chancellor’s Challenge or looking to get moving, join the Ridgeback Run Club (RRC)!  The RRC is open to all levels and runs rain or shine. 

Upcoming Dates:

• Wednesday June 25
• Wednesday July 9
• Tuesday July 22
• Thursday August 7
• Wednesday August 20
• Thursday August 28
• September dates are to be determined

Time: 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. (Start running at 12:16 p.m.)

Location: Meet at the front doors of Shawenjigewining Hall (east side of the building)

Get Active Questionnaire:
We want you to have a safe and enjoyable run experience, so please complete the Get Active Questionnaire and email your completed copy to wellnessatwork@ontariotechu.ca prior to attending your first run.  If you answer ‘yes’ to any questions within the Questionnaire, please review the Reference Document. 

Register Today!

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a two-day in-person workshop featuring powerful audio-visuals, discussions, and simulations. You'll learn how to recognize when someone might be thinking about suicide, and how to provide a skilled intervention and develop a safety plan with the person to connect them to further support. This workshop will increase your willingness, confidence, and capacity to provide suicide first aid.

This training requires a minimum of 8 participants to occur.

• Day #1 of ASIST, Tuesday, July 22 will be in Campus Corners, room 2222
• Day #2 of ASIST, Wednesday, July 23 will be in SCI 1240

* Please note: Participants must attend both days to be certified.

REGISTER FOR ASIST

The Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre (CRWC) is excited to offer Ontario Tech faculty and staff a free one-month membership for use of the running/walking track and showers. The membership is available for the months of June and July, and must be renewed each month. It does not provide access to the fitness centre or gymnasiums, but if you would like to explore these facilities, please contact Dwayne Christo (Lead Facility Attendant) for three complimentary day passes. 

Important: Please bring your own towel. Lockers are for daily use only. 

Instructions for faculty/staff:

1. Go to the Campus Recreation registration web page.
2. Log in using your Banner number and network password.
3. Select Memberships.
4. Select Faculty/Staff Track & Shower Membership - 1 Month and complete the registration. 
5. Your faculty/staff digital card will be required to scan at the CRWC to enter the turnstiles.

Summer group fitness classes have also begun. Visit the Fitness classes page for more information on how to register.

Are you wondering what to make for dinner? Would you like to try a new recipe?

Free fitness classes offered by Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre for Staff and Faculty.

Visit the Group Fitness web page to book your spot.

Whether you are new to Ontario Tech or wanting to refresh your knowledge of the supports and services available through TELUS Health, our Employee Assistance Program, please select the orientation format that works best for you.

1. 1-Minute Mini Orientation for Employees - Video Recording
2. 25-Minute Full Orientation for Employees - Video Recording
3. Virtual Orientations: Employee and Manager* sessions held live. Select the date within the Orientation Flyer that you would like to attend to register.

*Orientation for Manager video recordings are available on the Leader Supports webpage.