The Tri-University Graduate Program in History brings together the faculty members and resources of three of Ontario's leading universities to develop the skills of historians in both traditional and innovative ways. The Tri-University's PhD program was begun in 1994 as a way of combining the two small, but well-established PhD programs at Guelph and Waterloo, with the members of the History department at Wilfrid Laurier. This fresh, new program integrates the skill and knowledge of over fifty faculty members and offers students a wide range of research approaches and expertise. In 2001 the successful Tri-University concept was extended to include the Master's degree in History.
Central to the innovative character of the Tri-University Graduate Program is its emphasis on thematic fields, which expand the more traditional fields defined by space or time. The Tri-University Graduate Program in History also provides MA and PhD students with a wide range of courses and research opportunities. It features small seminars and a close student-professor relationship that distinguishes this program from others at larger universities. In this program students benefit from the existence of three smaller departments with the resources of one of Canada's largest graduate programs in history.