YURA Sponsored Events
Through the efforts of its volunteers, YURA offers a number of events, activities and programs for members and their spouses/partners throughout the year.
Prior to the COVID Pandemic, events have included theatre trips to the Stratford and Shaw Festival Theatres in the spring and fall respectively. Other past excursions included guided walks around historic areas of Toronto, a steamboat ride and luncheon on Lake Muskoka, a visit to a garden centre in southern Ontario and group visits to galleries and museums.
For many years, the YURA Showcase and Sale was staged in November on the York campus, providing members the opportunity to show off their hobbies or small business activities while generating funds for YURA sponsored student awards. More recently, YURA members have participated in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon Charity Challenge in October, walking or running 5 km to raise funds for YURA sponsored graduate awards at York — over the past four years, more than $115,000 has been raised by YURA participants and donors.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of the University campuses, YURA has actively distributed information to its members about online events, including talks, seminars, concerts or performances that may be of interest to York retirees.
YURA members are encouraged to check the YURA Events Calendar, located on the right side of the home page of the YURA web site for information about YURA events, other campus events, events offered by other universities and retiree associations through CURAC’s Later Life Learning initiative, as well as seniors events offered by other organizations in the Toronto area. Events listed are open to YURA members and include both in-person and online talks and webinars.
YURA Café
This popular monthly coffee hour moderated by Fran Wilkinson, professor emerita of psychology, will resume in the Fall of 2023. If you are feeling isolated, cut off from seeing friends and family, or just wanting to visit with other York retirees, this informal Zoom coffee hour allows you to get together with other YURA members to discuss topics of common interest, to chat and often to chuckle. Dates for the YURA Café sessions will be announced in early September. Registered YURA members receive an email invitation to attend the YURA Café (with the Zoom link) several days in advance of the event.
Suggested Day Trips Around the GTA
A YURA Café session some months ago discussed day trips in and outside of Toronto. We have compiled the suggestions and added a few more from our members. We recommend that you check the websites for visit regulations, opening hours, etc. The recommendations come from members and there are no guarantees on facilities available.
Click here for the Compilation of Suggested Day Trips
Other Campus Events
The YURA Events Calendar located on the homepage lists a number of other campus events to which YURA members are invited. In general, these include:
The Scholars’ Hub @ Home speaker series, featuring discussions on a broad range of topics, with engaging lectures from some of York’s best minds. The Scholars’ Hub events are presented by York University’s Alumni Engagement Office in partnership with Vaughan Public Libraries, Markham Public Library, and Aurora Public Library. Sessions are generally one hour and take place online at 12 noon ET.
The York Circle. Since 2009, The York Circle has showcased the ideas and research being generated by York University’s community. Topics come from every faculty and have included discussions around gender issues, brain function, mental health, international aid, sports injuries, financial policy and many more evolving subjects. Join The York Circle! Membership is free! Once you’ve joined, you will be invited to each event where you can learn about current research on key topics from York’s professors.
In addition to these series offered by the Alumni Engagement Office, the YURA Events Calendar will include events offered by the Faculties, Colleges and Research Centres, such as YU-CARE, the York University Centre for Aging Research & Education.
CURAC Sponsored Retiree Events
YURA is a member of CURAC, the College and University Retiree Associations of Canada. CURAC has a useful web page that includes information about member benefits for travel and health, a newsletter, conferences, and other information of interest to retirees. The link to the CURAC web page is: https://curac.ca/.
Click here for the list of “later life learning” programs available to YURA members that CURAC has put together, with the assistance of YURA and other member associations.
The YURA Events Calendar will often list upcoming online lectures and webinars offered by other Canadian universities and retiree associations in which YURA members can participate.