Information Technology Services (ITS)
IT@UofT People — Marcel Fortin
Published on: October 14, 2025
The backbone of any successful team is its hard-working people. The University of Toronto’s information technology professionals are no exception. IT@UofT is made up of a diverse range of people with an even greater diversity in their interests and talents.
In this segment, entitled “IT@UofT People,” we will get to know our IT@UofT community across all three campuses and find out more about their hidden or not-so-hidden talents and/or pursuits outside of work.
————————
Department: University of Toronto Libraries
Title: Associate Chief Librarian for Digital Scholarship and Technology
How long have you worked at U of T?
I’ve been working at the University of Toronto for a very short 26 years! I say “short” because I can’t believe how time has flown by working at the best university and library in the world! I was the Geographic Information Systems and Map Librarian and then the head of the Map and Data Library before I became an Associate Chief Librarian.
What is your secret or not-so-secret talent or hobby outside of work?
I guess you’d expect a librarian to say reading, but really, I love playing sports. I love playing hockey, kayaking, cross-country skiing and cycling.
Most recently, since the pandemic, I’ve taken up fat biking in the winter. A fat bike is essentially a mountain bike with oversized tires, so it can handle more difficult and unstable terrain like sand and snow. I especially love travelling to new winter trails all over the GTA, Ottawa and Québec. I’m hoping to go to Sault Ste. Marie this coming year, where I hear the best winter cycling trails can be found. My favourite local trails are in the Durham Forest. They groom the trails specifically for fat biking, and it’s a beautiful location within a reasonable distance from Toronto. I love the beauty and feeling of snowflakes falling on me when I’m in a forest. It reminds me of my youth.
How and why did you get involved in this hobby?
I grew up in the countryside in Northern Ontario, and my backyard and playground were the Sturgeon River. I would canoe and boat on the river almost every day in the summer and then ski, skate, play hockey and sometimes even bicycle on the river in the winter. Back then, the river would freeze in late November without snow falling on it until mid-December some years, meaning you had the entire length of the very long river as a skating/hockey rink or a cycling trail! Let’s just say I have very tender knees from having grown up participating in such activities as cycling on ice!
Do you have any outstanding memories or accomplishments from this hobby?
Some of my first and fondest memories are of my four older sisters and me shoveling snow to keep our river rink going as far into the winter as possible once the snow came.
Who/what are your inspirations?
Growing up in a French-Canadian community in the ‘70s watching Les Canadiens de Montréal win Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup was inspiring. I felt an unbelievable attachment to that team and especially some of the top French-Canadian players like Guy Lafleur, Guy Lapointe, Yvon Lambert, Yvan Cournoyer, etc. I still love looking at my thousands of hockey cards from that era. True to being a librarian, they are completely organized by team and alphabetical order!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I can’t believe I didn’t write about maps or data, which are my other non-sporting passions!