Move-in day sees thousands come to Barrie, Ont. to attend Georgian College

Georgian College's school district is buzzing with activity this weekend, with hundreds of first-year students settling into their new homes.

Sunday saw 500 students move into the College's campus residences, with as many as 2000 people lining the streets.

A lineup of cars fill the streets in Georgian College's campus on Sept. 3, 2023 (Ian Duffy/CTV News). "The last few years, we've done it over a couple of days, smaller time blocks, more spread out," said Richard MacIsaac with the Georgian College Residence and Conference Centre. "This year, we decided to go back to how it was before, just moving everyone in on the first day."

Roughly 50 student volunteers gave their time on Sunday to help with a smooth transition and to eliminate as much chaos as possible.

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"It makes it a lot easier, especially when you're greeted with a friendly face when you first get here," said Sarah Chisholm, a student at Georgian College. "Even going into third year, there's always nerves about going back to school, so that's kind of mixed into moving into a new place."

Parents and new students shed plenty of tears on Sunday but were also full of happy thoughts as their children went off on their own for the first time.

Parents help their child unload as they move into Georgian College on Sept. 3, 2023 (Ian Duffy/CTV News). "Especially for us. It's our last one to leave the nest, so it's very high today," said Elaine Coles, a parent dropping off her son. "We're very excited for him to venture off into a new part of his life, but definitely emotions are high."

Classes at the college will begin on Tuesday, but students will have an orientation day on Monday to help them hit the ground running.