TMU station

The station was opened as Dundas in 1954 as part of the original stretch of the Yonge subway line from Union to Eglinton station. The original address, 300 Yonge Street, is still commonly used in TTC system maps.

When Toronto's Eaton Centre was built in the 1970s, a pedestrian tunnel was constructed under the tracks outside the fare-paid areas, connecting the two separate concourses. The station was refurbished in 1982, with the original Vitrolite tiles being replaced with yellow ceramic tiling.^[3]

As part of the construction of Yonge–Dundas Square (now Sankofa Square) in the early 2000s, a new entrance staircase was created, giving access to the station directly from the square. In 2002, this station became accessible with the addition of elevators.^[4]

Name

From its opening in 1954 until 2025, this station was known as Dundas, after Dundas Street, which was in turn named after Henry Dundas, a British politician who played a role in delaying the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.^[5]

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the subsequent discovery of suspected gravesites of children at Canadian residential schools,^[6] Toronto City Council voted in 2021 to rename Dundas Street and other civic assets named after Dundas, including Dundas and Dundas West stations.^[5] In December 2023, Toronto City Council passed a motion that instructed the TTC to rename Dundas station by the fourth quarter of 2024. Toronto Metropolitan University expressed an interest in financing the renaming of the station if it was renamed in the university's honour.^[7] The TTC approved a proposal to rename the station TMU in May 2025, with the university agreeing to fund the costs associated with the transition.^[8] In November 2025, the TTC began erecting temporary signage reflecting the new name.^[9] The name change took effect on December 7, 2025.^[10][11][12]

The station is located under Yonge Street at Dundas Street and is built on three levels, with entrances on every corner of the intersection. and all being accessible except for the northwest one, which is a sidewalk staircase at the Atrium on Bay building. The southeast, southwest, and northeast entrances are located at Sankofa Square, in the Toronto Eaton Centre and at the Tenor inside the Cineplex Cinemas building respectively. All elevators that connect the entrance to the station are not provided by the TTC, but by the respective managements.

TMU is the only station in Toronto where the northbound and southbound platforms are in separate fare-paid areas, owing to the constrained space and difficult geology at this location. Separate street entrances had to be used for each direction until the Eaton Centre was built, at which time a tunnel was constructed under the tracks outside the fare-paid areas, which is considered the third level. If on the wrong platform, passengers (including Presto card holders) can take a transfer from the transfer machines available on the platform, exit the station, and re-enter the station on the other platform by showing the collector at the booth the transfer obtained.

The station has underground connections to the Toronto Eaton Centre, the Tenor and the Atrium on Bay, and is one of five stations connected to PATH.

The station features William McElcheran's Cross Section, located by the northwest entrance and along the under-platform crosswalk. It depicts a vibrant urban scene of pets, shoppers, businessmen and other commuters. The piece was created out of terra cotta and fired in two-foot-square tiles.^[13] The artwork was donated by Atrium on Bay in May 1984.

Two sections of William McElcheran's mural Cross Section, showing people and dogs

North of the station, the subway continues to travel through its tunnels underneath Yonge Street, passing over a double crossover,^[14] before entering College station. South of the station, it continues underneath Yonge Street, over Lower Queen station, before fully entering Queen station.

Nearby landmarks include Sankofa Square, the north end of the Eaton Centre, the former Toronto Coach Terminal, Toronto City Hall, the Ed Mirvish Theatre, and The Tenor shopping centre. Buildings on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University surround the station to the west, north and east. Nearby public art galleries include the Image Centre and Gallery Arcturus.

A transfer is required to connect between the subway system and these surface routes:

TTC routes serving the station include: