The University of Toronto is upgrading its email security to better protect our community from spam, phishing, and email fraud — and there are some important changes coming that may affect certain email services.

The Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) protocol is strengthening our email security to ensure that any message sent from a U of T email address is verified as coming from an authorized source. Messages that fail certain technical checks will not be delivered to recipients. These updates help protect the U of T community from fraudulent emails that attempt to impersonate the university (i.e. the kinds of tactics used in phishing attacks and scams.)

Learn more on the DMARC resource hub on SharePoint (for U of T community members only).

You may be affected if your unit or department uses any of the following to send email from a U of T address:

• Bulk email or marketing tools (e.g. Mailchimp, Envoke, Eventbrite)
• Automated email services (e.g. order confirmations, password resets, booking notices)
• Departmental applications or locally managed email systems

Contact your local IT team as soon as possible to confirm that your email-sending services are properly configured before the security enhancements go into effect on May 1, 2026. If you’re unsure whether you’re affected, please err on the side of caution and check in with your IT team. Important: even if you already contacted your local IT team to configure your services, you may need to do so again as new security enhancements are being rolled out on a regular basis.

Check out the DMARC resource hub that features FAQs, guides, and anticipated impacts. Note that this resource hub contains information for both technical and non-technical audiences. If you’re not an IT professional or well-versed in email system management, you will likely want to check out the following plain-language resources:

• An FAQ for non-technical audiences
• A list of anticipated impacts

If you’re an IT professional or otherwise involved in email system management at the University of Toronto, you can explore the full hub for technical FAQs, step-by-step configuration guides and checklists, a recorded information session, and more.