At the University of Toronto, computer science is a decentralized field that has been a subject of teaching and research since 1945, beginning with the Committee on Computing Machines.
The Engineering and Computer Science Library in the Sandford Fleming Building, St. George campus
Notable computer scientist faculty at the University of Toronto have included Stephen Cook, founder of the theory of NP-completeness which laid the groundwork for computational complexity theory,[1][2] and Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of A.I."[3][4]
Due to the university's unique tri-campus structure, computer science teaching and research is shared between departments and divisions. On the St. George campus in downtown Toronto, the Department of Computer Science is part of the Faculty of Arts and Science, and provides both undergraduate and graduate education in computer science and data science.[5] On the Mississauga and Scarborough campuses, a variety of undergraduate computer science programs are administered through multidisciplinary departments; those being the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences[6] and the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, respectively.[7]
The Department of Computer Science (DCS) is an academic department at the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto St. George. It is the university's original computer science department. Formally established in 1964, it is the only University of Toronto department that offers graduate programs in computer science. The department is located in the Bahen Centre for Information Technology.[5]
DCS offers an undergraduate program in computer science with a choice of focuses, from artificial intelligence and computer vision to game design and quantitative finance. It also provides courses in data science and a specialist program.[10] It hosts three graduate programs: a Master of Science (MSc), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and Master of Science in Applied Computing (MScAC) degree, the latter with concentrations in one of: Applied Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, Computer Science, Data Science, Data Science for Biology, or Quantum Computing.[11]
Mississauga campus
Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences
The Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (MCS) is an academic department at the University of Toronto Mississauga. It covers computer science as well as mathematics and statistics on the Mississauga campus. Computer science courses at the campus (then known as Erindale College) were grouped under math until 1971 when the first program was created.
The MCS department today was officially established around 2003 when U of T Mississauga became its own division of the university, and it is based in Deerfield Hall, built in 2014 as part of the New North reconstruction.[12][6]
Research
Research at UTM includes continuum robotics and computer vision in machine learning. Faculty member Sanja Fidler is the vice-president of artificial intelligence research at Nvidia and co-founded the Vector Institute.[13] The Continuum Robotics Lab is directed by roboticist Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, and researches flexible robotic arms for use in surgery and other areas where humans are limited by mobility and precision.[14]
Programs
The MCS department hosts undergraduate computer science and information security programs on the Mississauga campus.[15]
The Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (CMS) is an academic department of the University of Toronto Scarborough. It offers unique degree programs with several streams. It is based in the newly constructed Sam Ibrahim Building.[7]
Programs
The UTSC CMS department offers a program in computer science with options for experiential education and a unique program in management and information technology. Different streams of its computer science specialist include entrepreneurship, information systems, and software engineering.[16]
History
The Committee on Computing Machines, formed in 1945 by professors Sam Beatty, Bernard Griffith, and V. G. Smith, created Canada's first Computation Centre in a room inside the Physics Building in 1947. They developed the University of Toronto Electronic Computer (UTEC), the first computer in Canada and one of the first working electronic computer prototypes in the world.[17]
The first formal computer science department, the Department of Computer Science, was established in 1964 and helped develop one of the earliest interactive computer animation systems in 1967. Computer Science faculty worked to expand Alan Turing’s theory of computability to include efficiency, and conducted early work on touchscreen technology in the 1980s.[5]
In 2025, the University of Toronto announced the Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence, named for professor emeritus and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton. The chair role is supported by a $10 million donation from Google matched by the university.[18]
Rankings
The University of Toronto was ranked 12th in the world and first in Canada for computer science and information systems by QS Top Universities' World University Ranking by Subject 2025.[19] It was ranked 23rd in the world and first in Canada for computer science in Times Higher Education's World University Rankings by Subject 2025.[20][21]
Stephen Cook – University Professor Emeritus, recipient of the A.M. Turing Award for formalizing the notion of NP-completeness through Cook's theorem, considered one of the forefathers of computational complexity theory.
Raquel Urtasun – University Professor and researcher in the field of artificial intelligence and deep learning, co-founder of the Vector Institute.
Sanja Fidler – Associate Professor, vice-president of AI research at Nvidia, co-founder of the Vector Institute.
Allan Borodin – University Professor and former department chair from 1980 to 1985.
Charles Rackoff – University Professor Emeritus specializing in cryptography and security protocols.
Laboratories and research centres
Computer Science faculty, including Hinton, founded the Vector Institute in 2017, a university-affiliated non-profit artificial intelligence research institute based in Toronto.[23]
Research centres affiliated with computer science faculty include:
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