Lakehead University evolved from Lakehead Technical Institute and Lakehead College of Arts, Science, and Technology. Lakehead Technical Institute was established in response to a short that outlined the requirement for an establishment of upper education in northwestern Ontario. it had been established on June 4, 1946, by an Order-in-Council of the Province of Ontario. Classes commenced in January 1948, in temporary rented quarters in downtown Port Arthur. In September of that very same year, the primary university courses were added to the curriculum.
Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology was established by an Act of the Ontario Legislature proclaimed on Lammas, 1957. Years later, the initial Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology Act was amended to grant the faculty authority to determine new faculties, and confer degrees in arts and sciences. The Lakehead University Act, 1965, was given royal assent on June 22, 1965, and came into force on legal holiday, 1965. The Lakehead College of Arts, Science and Technology, thereafter referred to as "Lakehead University," was continued under this new charter. the primary degrees were conferred on May 5, 1965. the primary university chancellor was Senator Norman McLeod Paterson.
