Secret Services – Part I

I was walking down the intersection of St. George Street and Wilcocks Street, heading towards Sidney Smith, and I hear a young man say “Excuse me, do you know if there is a Post Office on campus?” Thinking fast, my brain flashed, “Yes I do!” and as I turned to address the young man, I realized he wasn’t talking to me. Of course, the person he was speaking to had no idea, so I pulled out my trusty residence book, and I flashed a dazzling “I-know-where-everything-is” smile and told him where the post office is.

 

 

For us residence kids, we have what I call the trusty, handy-dandy res book. At the risk of sounding like Steve from Blues Clues (sorry, little kid reference), I am going to let you in on the secrets, and share (in the next few posts) about all sorts of off-campus services. I’ll give you a lot of annoying street names, but having a general idea with the main intersections will help you when you’re in a rush.

 

Post Offices

For all of you, like that young man, who need a post office, we have one right on campus. It’s located on the first floor of the U of T bookstore in the Koffler Student Centre (located at College and St. George). There is also a post office on Spadina – its near Harbord and Bloor, and on Bloor there is a Shoppers Drug Mart (which also has a post office).

 

Health Services

You’re cutting tomatoes at 4 in the morning and you cut your hand and blood gushes out. You need health services!! There are 24-hour emergency rooms available at Mount Sinai Hospital and Toronto General Hospital at University Ave and Gerrard St respectively.

 

Shoppers Drug Mart (along Bloor Street, just west of Spadina) is open till midnight. Snowdon Pharmacy is closer (Bloor and St. George), but it closes at 6pm.

 

 

Banks

Need money? All the major banks can be found on campus, and you can save yourself $1.50 transaction by going to and ATM of the bank your account is in.

 

TD Canada Trust: there is a TD ATM on the second floor of Robarts library, and a TD Bank at Bay and Bloor and Bathurst and Bloor.

 

CIBC: There is a CIBC bank at Spadina and College

 

Bank of Montreal: right at St.George and Bloor Street W. when you come out of  St. George Subway Station.

 

Scotiabank: There is an ATM in Sidney Smith, and a bank at Spadina and Bloor Street.

 

Royal Bank: You can find an ATM at the Koffler Student Center, as well as on the side of the Tim Hortons on Bloor Street, right when you come out of the Bedford Entrance of St. George subway. This ATM lets you do much more (like deposit) than the one at Koffler. You can also find a bank at Spadina and Harbord.

 

Alterna Credit Union: College and Bay Street.

 

 

Books

For textbooks, the U of T bookstore has many books (found in the Koffler Student Center) and there are also many books for general reading. There are discount textbooks all along College Street (though some don’t take credit cards). There are also places like the Bob Miller Bookroom for obscure text findings.

 

For general reading, Robarts Library is quite good. As a student who has borrowed over 70 fiction books (Agatha Christie, Edgar Wallace and more) you can find many books. UTM’s library has a very current reading selection, and you can get them ordered to Robarts or Gerstein. We also have the World’s Biggest Bookstore located at Dundas and Yonge Street, and Indigo at the Manulife Center

 

 

That’s a good start – next post will be awesome restaurants in the area to cater to all personal styles and flavours. Check it out!

 

Adios Amigo!

 

Fariya