JAMES D. HOSINEC

Since 2005, James Hosinec has broken down barriers to higher education for University of Toronto students. His dream to support 1,000 students by his 100th birthday was fulfilled in 2023.

Born in Kuzmino, Czechoslovakia (today located in Ukraine) in 1923, James Hosinec immigrated to Canada with his mother, Anna at age 11 and younger brother, Michael, to flee the rise of fascism and the growing threat of war. They joined Hosinec’s father, Geoge who had arrived in Toronto several years earlier to put down roots in the family’s new country.

Although Hosinec and his parents had escaped war, they were soon confronted with the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Hosinec, who had long dreamed of attending university and becoming a doctor or lawyer, quickly realized he would have to set his dreams aside to help his family get by. He served with the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War, and later worked as a photographer before joining Ajax Hydro, where he worked as a meter supervisor until his retirement in 1986.

In 2005, driven by a desire to help young people follow their dreams in a way he was never able to, Hosinec made his first gift to the University of Toronto to establish the Hosinec Family Scholarships.

The gift launched what would become an extraordinary journey as one of U of T’s most prolific and transformational supporters of student awards.

In 2012, Hosinec created the James and Irene M. Hosinec Scholarship—named for his late wife—for MD students at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. In 2016, he honoured his long-time partner with the creation of the James Hosinec and Carol M. Isaac Scholarship for first year students and established the James Hosinec Scholarship for Clinician-Scientists.

Over the years, Hosinec has invested millions and supported 1,000 U of T students pursuing higher education across a wide range of disciplines—breaking down financial barriers and empowering success for students who working towards careers as architects, nurses, scientists, accountants, writers, entrepreneurs, and—as Hosinec himself once dreamed of doing—doctors and lawyers. The majority of these students would otherwise have faced significant obstacles to post-secondary education.  James Hosinec’s vision and generosity have provided these students with the opportunity to pursue their greatest potential.