The University of Toronto is one of the world's top-ranked universities in the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy's 2026 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects , placing in the top 10 in five subjects - including artificial intelligence.
U of T ranked third in the world for AI for a second time, following the subject's debut in last year's rankings . It also secured top spots in biomedical engineering (sixth), human biological sciences (seventh), statistics (seventh) and public health (ninth).
In total, U of T ranked in 52 of the 57 subjects evaluated in the rankings, placing it among the top nine universities globally for overall breadth. Within Canada, U of T was the top university in 25 subjects, with 17 subjects in the top 25, the highest tally in the country.
"These results reflect the University of Toronto's depth of excellence across the disciplines, as well as our commitment to global leadership in fundamental and applied research," says U of T President Melanie Woodin.
U of T's continued leadership in AI is a particular point of pride, Woodin adds, noting the foundations of the transformational technology were built by University Professor Emeritus and 2024 Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, widely regarded as the "godfather of AI," and his graduate students.
"The next generation of researchers is leading the safe and responsible adoption of this revolutionary technology, to power social and economic prosperity for people everywhere."
The Shanghai subject ranking is closely watched as an international benchmark for research excellence and impact across disciplines, with about 2,000 universities from nearly 100 countries and regions assessed every year. Each subject is evaluated using nine indicators , including number of papers published, international collaboration, journal quality, citation impact and major academic honours.
U of T was among seven universities in the world to be ranked in 52 subjects, trailing only National University of Singapore with 53 and Zhejiang University with 57.
Earlier this year, U of T was ranked 24th in Shanghai Consultancy's overall university rankings.
Overall, U of T continues to be ranked among the top universities globally in the five most closely watched international rankings: Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy's Academic Ranking of World Universities, U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities and NTU World University Rankings.
