Quick Facts

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Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest and most distinguished university. Consistently ranked Canada's top research-intensive university by Maclean's magazine, U of T offers teaching programs in 17 academic divisions. Its programs are held on the historic St. George campus in downtown Toronto, on campuses in Mississauga and Scarborough and in nine fully affiliated teaching hospitals in Toronto.

Along with the diversity of a world-class university, U of T also offers the intimate scale of small college life. The university is composed of 7 colleges, each with a distinctive feel and sense of community. It has more than 340 student clubs and organizations on all three campuses and innumerable activities ranging from cultural events at Hart House to intercollegiate and intramural sporting activities.

Size

67,692 students (59,389 full-time), 11,365 faculty and staff and 387,000 alumni
operating budget: $1.107 billion
research grant and contract support: $517 million
75 PhD programs, 14 professional faculties
library has over 15 million holdings and is one of the top 4 research libraries in North America

Locations

St. George campus: 49,960 students
U of T at Scarborough: 8,807 students including joint programs with Centennial College
U of T at Mississauga: 8,925 students including joint programs with Sheridan College
Institute for Aerospace Studies in north-west Toronto
Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill
Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill, King Township

Research Achievements

developed first electronic heart pacemaker, artificial larynx, single-lung transplant, nerve transplant and artificial pancreas
isolated gene that allows plants to grow in salt water
developed the chemical laser
developed the anti-blackout suit, later adapted to create the astronaut space suit
created the infant cereal Pablum

Economic Impact

96 spin-off companies with 3,638 employees and revenues of $821 million
generates $1.11 for every dollar of funding from federal and provincial governments
15th-largest employer in the GTA
U of T employees, students and alumni put an estimated $4.7 billion into the economy of the Toronto region annually

Noted Alumni

authors Margaret Atwood, Farley Mowat, Michael Ondaatje, Rohinton Mistry and Stephen Leacock
film directors David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan, Arthur Hiller, Norman Jewison
opera singers Measha Brueggergosman, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Teresa Stratas and Maureen Forrester
business leaders Edward S. "Ted" Rogers (Rogers Cable) and Jeff Skoll (eBay)
media personalities Peter Gzowski, Barbara Amiel, Evan Soloman and Barbara Frum
astronauts Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette
comedy duo Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster
Prime Minister Paul Martin; also William Lyon Mackenzie King, Arthur Meighen and Lester B. Pearson
former Ontario premiers Bob Rae, David Peterson and William Davis
Ontario's first woman lieutenant-governor Pauline McGibbon
Past Governors General Adrienne Clarkson and General Vincent Massey

Noted Faculty - Past and Present

Sir Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod won the Nobel Prize in 1923 for their work with Charles Best in the discovery of the role of insulin in controlling diabetes
John C. Polanyi won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering work that led to the development of the laser
Political scientist Janice Gross Stein
geneticist Tak Mak, the first to clone a T-cell gene, a key part of the immune system
literary critic and author Northrop Frye
author and dramatist Robertson Davies
medical biophysicist Lap-Chee Tsui led the team of researchers who discovered the cystic fibrosis gene
communications guru Marshall McLuhan
engineering pioneer Ursula Franklin, known for her work on the social impact of technology
Peter St. George-Hyslop led the team that discovered two genes responsible for early-onset Alzheimer's
astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg

Did You Know...

U of T has six Nobel Prize-winning graduates, the highest number of any Canadian university
over the last two decades, our professors have received almost a quarter of all national awards although they represent just over seven per cent of Canada's university professors
more than half of full-time undergraduates are women
U of T is in the midst of the largest capital expansion program in 40 years, building over 1 million square feet of classrooms, research facilities, libraries and residences
U of T has over 6,000 international students, about nine per cent of our student population
the Royal Ontario Museum, Pollution Probe, Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony were all started at U of T

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