Canada in the Top 2% Scientists list 2026: 8,510 scholars, fields, and institutions
Live ABS Nexora analytics: Canada lists 8,510 Top 2% scientists in the 2026 single-year cohort (~3.44% of the SY analytics total), led by Clinical Medicine (3,134) and University of Toronto (691).
How many Top 2% scientists are from Canada?
Direct answer: ABS Nexora’s latest single-year country profile for Canada (can) lists 8,510 Top 2% scientists for selected year 2026 — about 3.44% of the Directory’s single-year country-analytics cohort (~247,376 researchers). Average citations in this snapshot are about 1,207, with average h-index near 13.1, across 783 distinct institutions.
Canada ranks among the Directory’s top national cohorts, with a Clinical Medicine-heavy profile (over one-third of listed scholars) and flagship universities in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Montreal.
Americas context: see regional comparison and top countries.
Who are the top 10 Top 2% scientists in Canada?
Direct answer: In ABS Nexora’s Canada country profile (can, single-year 2026), the top 10 listed scholars by Directory ranking start with Bengio, Yoshua (Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms; Information & Communication Technologies; global rank 6; ~56,949 citations). The table below uses # in country for order within this national list and Global rank for the scholar’s overall rank_all in the single-year listing.
| # in country | Researcher | Institution | Field | Global rank | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bengio, Yoshua | Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms | Information & Communication Technologies | 6 | 56,949 |
| 2 | Hinton, Geoffrey E. | University of Toronto | Information & Communication Technologies | 14 | 52,806 |
| 3 | Moher, David | Ottawa Hospital Research Institute | Clinical Medicine | 18 | 89,181 |
| 4 | Austin, Peter C. | Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences | Clinical Medicine | 35 | 8,534 |
| 5 | Becke, Axel D. | Dalhousie University | Physics & Astronomy | 38 | 9,780 |
| 6 | Dincer, I. | Ontario Tech University | Enabling & Strategic Technologies | 66 | 12,464 |
| 7 | Wishart, David S. | University of Alberta | Biomedical Research | 90 | 9,961 |
| 8 | Gordon, Guyatt H. | McMaster University | Clinical Medicine | 103 | 29,763 |
| 9 | Hayes, Andrew F. | Haskayne School of Business | Communication & Textual Studies | 108 | 9,285 |
| 10 | Drucker, Daniel J. | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute | Clinical Medicine | 129 | 6,123 |
Open any linked name for the full Directory scholar profile. Country order follows the live top_researchers panel on Canada analytics.
What are Canada’s strongest fields?
Canada’s largest Top 2% field cohort is Clinical Medicine with 3,134 listed scholars. The next fields in the live profile are:
| Field | Listed scholars |
|---|---|
| Clinical Medicine | 3,134 |
| Biomedical Research | 630 |
| Engineering | 582 |
| Information & Communication Technologies | 535 |
| Physics & Astronomy | 448 |
Which institutions lead in Canada?
The largest institutional cohort in the Canada profile is University of Toronto (691 listed scholars). Other leading affiliations:
| Institution | Listed scholars |
|---|---|
| University of Toronto | 691 |
| The University of British Columbia | 618 |
| University of Alberta | 377 |
| McGill University | 339 |
| University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine | 250 |
How has Canada’s Top 2% cohort changed from 2020 to 2026?
In the country-profile timeline, Canada moved from 6,598 listed scholars (2020) to 8,510 (2026) — a change of 1,912 (~+29%).
| Edition year | Listed scholars |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 6,598 |
| 2021 | 7,468 |
| 2022 | 7,729 |
| 2023 | 7,880 |
| 2024 | 8,172 |
| 2025 | 8,292 |
| 2026 | 8,510 |
Snapshot metrics (single-year 2026)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Listed scholars | 8,510 |
| Share of global (SY analytics) | 3.44% |
| Avg. citations | 1,207 |
| Avg. h-index | 13.1 |
| Best rank (in profile) | 6 |
| Distinct institutions | 783 |
| Leading field | Clinical Medicine (3,134) |
One highly ranked profile example in this snapshot: Bengio, Yoshua (Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms; Information & Communication Technologies). Rankings shift with listing type and year — always verify on the live Directory.
Explore Canada on ABS Nexora
- Canada country analytics
- Directory search (filter by country / institution)
- Full analytics dashboard
- 2026 edition explained
- How to read country counts
Related country insights
- France Top 2% directory 2026
- Asia vs Europe vs Americas
- Top countries overview
- Clinical Medicine field strengths
FAQ
How many Top 2% scientists does Canada have in 2026? 8,510 listed scholars in ABS Nexora’s single-year country profile for selected year 2026.
What share of the global list is that? About 3.44% of the single-year country-analytics cohort (~247,376 researchers in the matching dashboard snapshot).
Which field is strongest in Canada? Clinical Medicine, with 3,134 listed scholars in the live profile.
Which institution has the most listed scholars? University of Toronto, with 691 in this snapshot (affiliation coding follows the underlying dataset).
Did Canada grow between 2020 and 2026? Yes — from 6,598 to 8,510 listed scholars (~+29%) in the country timeline.
Who ranks highest among Canada’s Top 2% scientists? In this snapshot, Bengio, Yoshua leads the country top_researchers list (see the top-10 table above for linked profiles).
Where can I verify these figures? Open the live Canada country page or Analytics on ABS Nexora; numbers refresh with the Directory database. Data source: Elsevier / Stanford–Ioannidis World’s Top 2% Scientists lists via ABS Nexora.