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Undergraduate applications to the University of Toronto continue to increase, despite a decline in the number of 15 to 19 year olds in Ontario and an overall decline in university applications in the province.

As of June 2015, applications from Ontario secondary school students to �鶹��Ƶ were up 2.2 per cent over last year, says the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre.

Overall, applications to Ontario universities decreased by 0.6 per cent. Applications to �鶹��Ƶ from non-secondary school students rose even higher, increasing by about 7 per cent from 2014, according to Richard Levin, �鶹��Ƶ’s director of enrolment and registrar.

Those numbers include first, second and third choices, Levin says. But the number of students who selected �鶹��Ƶ as their first choice also increased from 2014.

“Our first-choice applications are up 1.4 per cent, compared to an overall Ontario decrease of 1.8 per cent,” Levin said. “Our market share of first-choice applications has increased from 14.7 to 15.2 per cent – the highest level since 2006.”

Levin attributes the increase to several factors, including new recruitment initiatives, the increased involvement of alumni in recruitment and the introduction or renewal of recruitment publications, videos and websites.

Levin said the decline in numbers of teens aged 15 to 19 in Ontario is expected to continue until about 2020. However, its impact on university enrolment is offset by increasing post-secondary participation rates, he says.