[13][14][15] UCC was founded in 1829 by Major-General Sir John Colborne (later the 1st Baron Seaton), then Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, in the hopes that it would serve as a feeder school to the newly established King's College (now known as the University of Toronto).

By 1910, however, UCC was facing declining enrolment and capital; it considered selling the Deer Park campus and moving again to become a full boarding school on a property purchased in Norval, Ontario.

[32] A war memorial display case and plaque in the Upper School's main entrance hall is dedicated to the UCC Old Boys who distinguished themselves during Canadian military service periods.

The crisis forced the school government to rethink their stance on foresight and planning, leading to a years-long program of new construction, salary improvements, and funding sources.

[42][43][44][45][46][47][48] In 2003, 18 students launched a $62 million class-action lawsuit against UCC, claiming sexual abuse by Doug Brown, who taught at the Prep from 1975 to 1993 and was eventually found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of indecent assault.

[52] After the appointment in 2004 of Jim Power as principal, the curriculum further evolved to address reports of wider, societal trends showing a rise in boys' behavioural problems and a decline in their educational performance.

Upper Canada College owns and maintains an outdoor educational facility near the town of Norval, Ontario, on 420 acres (170 ha)[7] of property on the Credit River.

By the early 19th century, the land supported farming; many remnants of this use remain, including apple orchards and artifacts, some of which were unearthed by students during simulated archaeological digs.

[65] Norval's main purpose is to teach college students about the natural environment, sustainability, and ecosystems through outdoor learning programs,[66] some in conjunction with Outward Bound Canada.

[68] The land was purchased in 1913,[40] at a time when the city of Toronto was quickly growing around the college's Deer Park campus and the trustees were considering moving the school to a new location.

Besides its own archives containing records that outline the history of Upper Canada, the province of Ontario, and the city of Toronto dating back to the mid-19th century,[83] the college also has a notable collection of artwork, antiques, and war medals.

[92] There are also a number of other committees for advancement, finance and audit, governance and nominating, human resources, long range planning, property, and senior management review.

HRH met so many 'Old Boys' while [fighting in the First World War] that, when he made his visit to Canada last year, he instituted special inquiries about the previous history of the College.

[99] To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the College's founding, the Prince made a two-day visit to UCC, which included a reception and formal banquet Exhibition Place and distributing prizes to the winners of the first annual Jubilee Association Run.

Historian Richard Howard said of Philip in 1979, "In the lengthy history of the College, no visitor since our inception has taken such a deep interest in our affairs, for such an extended period, as has the present distinguished incumbent.”[99] In May 2012, the Upper Canada College Monarchist League conducted a poll and submitted to the Board of Governors a report outlining how 71 per cent of students surveyed (91 per cent of those in Year One) approved of another member of the royal family serving as UCC's visitor upon the resignation or demise of the Duke of Edinburgh.

He toned down the rigid study regimes, cold dormitories, bland menus, and bullying, fostering instead more tolerating discipline, swift punishment for serious offenders, the occasional feast, and organised recreation.

[113] Upper Canada College runs a variety of extracurricular theatre programs, ranging in scope and scale, from musicals to Shakespeare, with at least one large-scale and one small-scale production each year.

Sports teams run by UCC include alpine ski, baseball, basketball, cricket, football, golf, hockey, rowing, rugby, lacrosse, soccer, squash, Swimming, Track and Field, tennis, and volleyball.

[140] Past speakers have included Mehdi Hasan, Ralph Nader, Stephen Lewis, Michael Ignatieff, Susan Faludi, Gwynne Dyer, Thomas Homer-Dixon,[141] Geoffrey Hinton, Roberta Bondar, Masai Ujiri, Francisco Salgasti, Esko Aho, Edward Snowden, and Martin Luther King III,[142][143][144] all of whom have spoken on a variety of topics including human rights, gender issues, justice, globalization, and health ethics.

Issued more regularly, Upper Canada College also has an online publication, The Blue and White (TBAW, tbaw.ca) to which students submit articles about school life and current affairs.

[153] In relation to this, the college runs the Horizons program, in which local underprivileged children are tutored in music, digital media, and academics twice a week by current UCC students.

These events are intended to serve a variety of purposes—promoting school spirit, for enjoyment, fund raising or philanthropic causes—and many are organized by the Upper Canada College Association, with the help of parent and student volunteers.

Held since 1979, A-Day, as it is informally known, constitutes the school's largest annual event, taking place over the last weekend of September and culminating on the Saturday with a large festival, including competitive matches for all fall sports teams and the Association Dinner for Old Boys celebrating their five-year incremental class reunions.

[158] Two secondary school student dances take place in the calendar year: The Battalion Ball originated out of the At Home, a UCC community-wide event similar to a modern homecoming and first held in 1887.

The event was held off-campus for the first time in 1975, at the Royal York Hotel, and, after 1976, when the Cadet Corps was disbanded, school uniforms replaced military attire, rock bands played, and Batt Ball became more of a spring prom.

Today, Batt Ball is reserved for students in grades 11 and 12, held at venues such as the Royal York Hotel or Arcadian Court, with attire being tuxedo for boys and evening gown or cocktail dress for girls, and music is provided by DJs.

[181] Specific programs are also run by the association, including those that permit recent graduates to volunteer as mentors to students,[182] and Old Boy reunions are set up around the world by the association's fifteen branches outside of Toronto: Calgary, Halifax, Kingston, London, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver in Canada; Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in the United States; London in the United Kingdom; Hong Kong in China; and Budapest in Hungary.

The words, attached to the arms of Lord Nelson in 1797,[184] were first used in relation to UCC in 1833, as part of an emblem stamped on the inside of books given as prizes, showing the phrase written on a ribbon tying together two laurel leaves around the school's name.

The quadrant-shaped figure in the upper right corner is a section of the standard of St. George and signifies the school's connection with England and Great Britain, the native land of the founder, Lord Seaton.

[16] Instead, the simple crown between laurel leaves tied with a ribbon bearing the school's motto became the standard emblem, although its appearance changed over time in reflection of current tastes.