How to change your name, get a new email, and other important resources.
Student Name and/or Gender Change on Academic Records & ACORN
The SGDO supports students who are undergoing a First and/or Middle Name and/or gender change process. The SGDO does not manage name change processes at U of T. Please refer to your faculty/department or college registrar for process-specific inquires.
The University of Toronto has a way for students to have their first name and/or gender changed on their academic records and ACORN. Go to your Registrar’s Office and request the Change of Name or Gender Request Form.
You are able to change your First and Middle Name and/or your gender on your academic record without legal documentation. In doing so, you will need to provide ID to prove who you are, but not to legally verify the name and gender that you are changing it to. U of T will maintain your legal name and gender information in the records, but your correct name and gender, as requested, will appear on all university documents once the form is processed.
You do not need to provide an explanation or disclosure as to the reasons for the change.
The Registrar should advise you where the First Name and/or Middle Name is not your Legal Name and that future employers, licensing bodies, or other educational institutions may require proof that the transcripts and diplomas are your legitimate academic records.
Any questions from administrators or students can be directed to the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office.
Note: For 2SLGBTQ+ international students, there can be specific considerations in relation to changing your First and/or Middle Name and/or gender for your academic record, immigration requirements, borders, and more. We recommend contacting the SGDO [sgdo@utoronto.ca] to discuss some of these considerations and the resources available to you. International students who are not making gender-related name and/or gender changes can contact their registrars directly.
Read the Statement Concerning Change of Student Personal Information in Official Academic Records.
Do you wish to change your Preferred Name (formerly Display First Name) but not your First Name on your academic records?
The University of Toronto has a single-source application for students, staff, faculty and librarians to add and/or update an individual’s Preferred Name on certain university systems: Quercus, UTMail, and HRIS (an updated list is available at my.auth.utoronto.ca). The application (my.auth.utoronto.ca) will only effect the first name that is displayed for an individual in some University systems and will not change the individual’s First Name or Legal Name on academic records or on ACORN.
Find out more about this process.
Are you both a student and an employee?
Please note that the personal information records for student status are unique from any employment records. If you change your information on your student record, this will NOT translate to your employment record. Employment records do require your legal personal information for payment and record keeping, however any person can request to be addressed by the name and pronoun that they use in their everyday.
Adding or changing a Preferred Name can help ensure the name you wish to use at work and with colleagues while maintaining your Legal Name for payment and pension purposes. The Sexual & Gender Diversity Office can support a student employee and/or the employer to address any questions or concerns regarding these matters.
Changing Your TCard
Once you have changed your First Name with your Registrar, business officer or HR contact, you can also change your TCard. Changes to your Preferred Name will not be reflected on your TCard. To avoid replacement fees, you must turn in your previous TCard. It is prohibited to possess more than one TCard.
Students: please wait 24 hours from the time that you have changed your name in the system in order to get your new TCard.
Staff and faculty: your business officer or HR contact should provide you with a letter informing TCard Services of your non-legal name change.
Please note: Government identification matching your legal name is required for identify validation only. For a list of valid identity documents, visit the TCard Services website.
Changing Your Email Address
Once you have changed your name, you can also change your email address.
Go to utorid.utoronto.ca to make changes and change your email address.
You can also change your Preferred Name, i.e. the name that appears with your account on your email and other online services. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours for the change to take effect.
For assistance, please go to:
- St. George: the Help Desk at Robarts Library
- UTSC: BV487, IC35, or the Library
- UTM: CCT Atrium
Important Note: Your email will not be automatically updated in ROSI, ACORN, or HRIS – this needs to be done manually.
Staff & Faculty Name and/or Gender Change in HRIS
The University of Toronto has simple ways for staff and faculty to have their name and/or gender changed in HRIS (Human Resource Information System). Staff & Faculty can adding a Preferred Name. Gender designation can be changed by simply submitting the Change of Gender Request Form to an HR contact or Business Officer. You may use this form to make one of the following changes in your official Human Resources record:
- Change your gender identity
- Change your form of address (including Mx & Misc)
Please note: changes to a Preferred Name is not a legal change to your personal identification. For Legal Name changes, speak with your HR contact or business officer.
As a staff, faculty or librarian, you are able to change your name and/or your gender without documentation of a legal name and/or gender change. You will need to provide ID to prove who you are, but not to verify the name or gender that you are changing it to.
The University of Toronto is currently working to ensure name and/or gender changes specified via this form appear on all University documentation, reports, and services. As of November 30, 2017, the following services will reflect display name changes: Green Shield Canada, U of T Pension Services, Employee Self-Service, Campus Mail, and most Human Resources reports and programs. Over the course of 2018, more services and resources will be modified to reflect name and gender changes. During this interim period, please forward any instances where your name and / or gender is not appearing correctly to askhr@utoronto.ca for resolution.
Once you submit this form, please connect with your Divisional HR Office and / or Business Officer to ensure that other materials (such as departmental contact directories and business cards) are updated and changed appropriately. Please note that reports and communications generated independent of HRIS may not reflect the changes requested by this form and manual updates may be required.
It is important to know that changes to your Preferred Name will be reflected wherever possible on your official HRIS record, correspondence, award certificates, and reports. It is the sole responsibility of the employee to resolve or deal with issues resulting from a name change. As requested, the University can provide documentation with an employee’s legal name.
Any questions from administrators or employees can be directed to the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office.
Setting Preferred Name
The University of Toronto has a simple, single-source application for students, staff, faculty and librarians to add and/or update an individual’s Preferred Name on certain university systems: Quercus, UTMail, and ESS (an updated list is available at my.auth.utoronto.ca). The application (my.auth.utoronto.ca) will only change the first name that is displayed for an individual in some University systems and will not change the individual’s Legal Name across all academic systems.
To change your name and/or gender more comprehensively, please refer to the appropriate name change pages. For individuals who have completed a University of Toronto First and/or Middle Name and/or gender form with the registrar’s office or divisional HR/business officer, the name identified on this form will be used as your Preferred Name and no further action is required.
How to get started
Visit my.auth.utoronto.ca to add and/or update your Preferred Name.
Will a change to my Preferred Name using my.auth.utoronto.ca be reflected on my graduation parchment or my student TCard?
No, but you can change this too. A change to your Preferred Name only affects Quercus for students, HRIS for employees, and the UTMail for both students and employees. For a change that is reflected on your parchment or student TCard, students can submit the completed “Change First Name and Gender Form” to their registrar’s office.