Quick Facts
Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest university, recognized as a global leader in research and teaching. U of T's distinguished faculty, institutional record of groundbreaking scholarship and wealth of innovative academic opportunities continually attract outstanding students and academics from around the world. U of T is committed to providing a learning experience that benefits from both a scale almost unparalleled in North America and from the close-knit learning communities made possible through its college system and academic divisions. Located in and around Toronto, one of the world's most diverse regions, U of T's vibrant academic life is defined by a unique degree of cultural diversity in its learning community.The University is sustained environmentally by three green campuses, where renowned heritage buildings stand beside award-winning innovations in architectural design.
- 70,143 students (62,097 full-time), 11,807 faculty and staff and 422,000 alumni
- operating budget: $1.187 billion
- research grant and contract support: $623 million
- 75 PhD programs, 17 professional faculties
- library has over 15 million holdings and is one of the top 4 research libraries in North America
Locations
- St. George campus: 50,871 students
- U of T at Scarborough: 9,603 students including joint programs with Centennial College
- U of T at Mississauga: 9,669 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
- 103 spin-off companies with 3,000 employees and revenues of $725 million
- generates $1.11 for every dollar of funding from federal and provincial governments
- 15th-largest employer in the Greater Toronto Area
- U of T employees, students and alumni put an estimated $5 billion into the economy of the Toronto region annually
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
- Political scientist Janice Gross Stein
- Peter St. George-Hyslop led the team that discovered two genes responsible for early-onset Alzheimer's
- medical biophysicist Lap-Chee Tsui led the team of researchers who discovered the cystic fibrosis gene
- geneticist Tak Mak, the first to clone a T-cell gene
- literary critic and author Northrop Frye
- author and dramatist Robertson Davies
- communications guru Marshall McLuhan
- engineering pioneer Ursula Franklin
- 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 under 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, just under ten 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
For more information contact:
Strategic Communications
tel: 416-978-UOFT
fax: 416-978-1632