Website: https://cgsp-cpsm.ca/
The Centre for Global Social Policy is located within the University of Toronto’s Department of Sociology. The Centre supports social policy-relevant research conducted in Sociology and related disciplines. These disciplines include public health, anthropology, political science, and economics. The researchers share a common interest in creating research knowledge to advance policy solutions aimed at improving the welfare of the population. Our scope is global, with some scholars engaged in internationally-comparative research and others focusing on particular countries or regions.
Faculty Lead: Dr. Ito Peng
Housing Assistance, Neighbourhood Change and Residential Mobility
Faculty Affiliate and Project Lead: Dr. Prentiss Dantzler
The HiPED Lab studies campus protest activism and administrative and police responses in the U.S. and Canada, focusing on the 2010s. The centerpiece of our lab is the Higher Ed Protest Events Dataset (HiPED), which contains more than 5,550 protests, although we do mixed methods and qualitative research, too. Website will be launched in spring 2026.
Key Contact: Dr. Ellen Berrey
The Lab engages in community-centered research with an aim towards capacity building, knowledge mobilization, and policy advocacy. This research initiative is committed to exposing, analyzing, and improving housing justice across North American cities.
Website: https://www.housingjusticelab.org/
Faculty Lead and Founding Director: Dr. Prentiss Dantzler
The Infrastructure Institute is a training, advisory, and interdisciplinary research hub at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities. It seeks to build local and global expertise in integrated planning for civil and social infrastructure, decision-making, and project delivery. The Institute's work lies at the intersection of real estate, urban development, land use policy, and transportation planning.
Website: https://infrastructureinstitute.ca/
Faculty Lead: Matti Siemiatycki, Professor - Department of Geography and Planning
Faculty Fellow: Dr. Prentiss Dantzler
Members of the Morality, Action, and Cognition Lab (MAC lab) are members of the Sociology Department at the University of Toronto. We investigate a variety of questions having to do with morality, human behavior, and/or cognition, as well as the intersections among them. Although we pursue a variety of questions, much of our work is in pursuit of creating generalizable models of behavior, and elucidating the sources and consequence of different moral cultures.
Website: https://www.andrewamiles.com/mac-lab/machome.html
Faculty Lead: Andrew Miles
The New Housing Alternatives (NHA) is a research partnership dedicated to rethinking Canada’s housing system. It examines the challenges within today’s housing landscape while exploring bold alternatives that can reshape it for the better. Bringing together academic researchers and community partners, NHA works collaboratively to design solutions that advance social equity and justice. Central to the work is elevating the voices and experiences of those most affected by housing precarity, ensuring that any new housing system is built on inclusion, dignity, and care.
Website: https://newhousingalternatives.ca/
Faculty Leads: Susannah Bunce, Associate Professor - Department of Human Geography & Alan Walks, Professor - Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment
Co-PI and Academic Partner: Dr. Prentiss Dantzler
The School of Cities is a unique multidisciplinary hub for urban research, education, and engagement creating new and just ways for cities and their residents to thrive. The School of Cities fosters opportunity, collaboration, insight, and knowledge exchange with a global reach, playing a critical role in addressing climate change and justice, migration and belonging, inequality and democracy, and the world’s collective ability to address urgent urban challenges.
Website: https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/
Faculty Lead: Karen Chapple, Professor - Department of Geography and Planning
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Prentiss Dantzler
The Social Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy brings together Canadian and international scholars, researchers, activists, advocates, students, and policymakers to tackle pressing current and future social challenges. Through initiatives like the annual Munk International Institute on Social Policy, research talks, and the Social Policy Research series, the Lab fosters a vibrant community dedicated to developing, debating, and advancing innovative social policy solutions. Its work is driven by a commitment to reducing inequality, promoting justice, and enhancing social welfare and well-being.
Faculty Lead: Daniyal Zuberi, Professor - Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy & Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
Website: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/housingdiscriminationreports...
Faculty Associate: Dr. Prentiss Dantzler
The Bayesian Demography Lab brings together researchers from fields such as demography, statistics, sociology and public health to work on projects related to statistical demography and the study of demographic inequalities.
Website: https://www.monicaalexander.com/lab/
Faculty Lead: Dr. Monica Alexander
We research organizations, work, and economic activity in all its forms. We meet for paper workshops, an annual conference, and other events.
Key Contact: Laura Doering (laura.doering@utoronto.ca)
The Consortium for Advanced Social Analytics (CASA) is an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Toronto focused on integrating artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, and advanced computational techniques into social science research.
Website: http://utoronto-casa.ca/
Key Contacts: Nicholas Spence (nicholas.spence@utoronto.ca) and Ethan Fosse (ethan.fosse@utoronto.ca)
Toronto Population Network (TPN) is an interdisciplinary academic hub aimed at addressing the most pressing challenges related to population dynamics, such as health disparities, housing, migration, fertility, family structures, aging, and mortality. Through a tri-campus, inter-divisional approach, this initiative will unite experts from sociology, public health, social work, economics, geography, and political science to provide a multi-faceted perspective on these issues and generate actionable solutions to pressing social concerns.
This network will leverage the University of Toronto’s extensive academic resources to foster a collaborative environment where experts from diverse fields work together. The interdisciplinary approach is crucial because population changes like aging, migration, and economic disparities impact many aspects of society, including healthcare, housing, and employment. A holistic understanding of these issues requires insights from multiple disciplines. For instance, studying migration goes beyond mere population counts; it involves understanding economic, social, and geographic factors influencing movement patterns, settlement choices, and public health impacts.
The Toronto Population Network serves as a platform for developing new research tools, statistical methodologies, and practical solutions tailored to demographic study. The initiative will also support the development of advanced techniques for analyzing complex datasets, utilizing innovative data sources such as mobile phones and social media. The network will focus on demographic methodologies and will explore options for shared data platforms, allowing for specialized and impactful research.
The initiative will kick off with workshops, conferences, and roundtable discussions, creating opportunities for cross-disciplinary exchange and collaboration.
Through a foundation of strong interdisciplinary collaboration and external funding, the Toronto Population Network aspires to establish itself as a global leader in demographic research.
SNACK (Symbols, Norms, Action, Culture, Knowledge) is a working group for scholars engaged in the sociology of culture, broadly defined. It brings together graduate students and faculty for regular, collaborative discussions of in progress, exploratory, and recently published work. The group uses a “Main Course + Small Plates” format, featuring one in depth project discussion alongside shorter sessions for early stage ideas or specific challenges. SNACK fosters a relaxed, supportive environment centered on thoughtful feedback, open dialogue, and collective problem solving across all stages of research.
TTW fosters theoretical dialogue, taking theory in a wide sense. We aim to maximize conversation. Papers, usually works in progress, are circulated prior to meetings, and all attendees are expected to come to the workshop having read the paper. Presenters typically provide only a 5-minute introduction and contextualization of the paper. Then two discussants (a graduate student and a faculty member) provide critical commentary, followed by open Q&A with all participants. Everyone is welcome, whether you see yourself as someone who works in theory or not, and whether you are new to the department or have been around for a long time.