Toronto lists about 1,550 clinical trials actively recruiting, more than any other Canadian city and more than San Francisco or Seattle. Most of them run along a single stretch of University Avenue that holds the greatest concentration of teaching and research hospitals in the country. If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, this guide explains where the studies are, what makes a Canadian trial different from one across the border, and how compensation and coverage actually work.
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A research city since before insulin
Toronto's medical research reputation predates almost everything else about the modern city. In 1921 and 1922, Frederick Banting and Charles Best, working at the University of Toronto, isolated insulin and gave the first successful injection to a 14 year old boy with type 1 diabetes at Toronto General Hospital, turning a fatal disease into a manageable one within a year. Banting shared the Nobel Prize in 1923. A century later, the same few blocks hold University Health Network, Canada's largest research hospital network, comprising Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Toronto Rehab; the Hospital for Sick Children, the country's largest paediatric research hospital; Mount Sinai Hospital; Women's College Hospital; and St. Michael's. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and its Odette Cancer Centre sit about 11 kilometres north, in North York.
For cancer specifically, the Princess Margaret is the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Canada and, by its own research institute's account, one of the top five cancer research centres in the world, with more than 400,000 patient visits a year and the largest radiation treatment programme in the country. Together with Sunnybrook's Odette Centre it forms one of the largest clusters of cancer hospitals anywhere. About 40 percent of Toronto's recruiting studies are cancer trials, and a large share of the early phase cancer studies open in Canada open here first.
What else Toronto studies
Beyond oncology, the concentration of specialty hospitals gives Toronto strengths most cities lack. SickKids runs paediatric trials across nearly every childhood condition, from juvenile arthritis to inherited bleeding disorders, and children's studies are often available in Toronto that appear nowhere else in Canada. Toronto Western is a major centre for neurology and movement disorders, which is why many Parkinson's and Alzheimer's trials enroll in the city. The city also hosts large programmes in inflammatory bowel disease, cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and mental health at CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, one of the largest mental health research hospitals in the world.
Studies recruiting in Toronto right now
A Phase 3 trial of trontinemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease is enrolling at Sunnybrook, one of the most watched Alzheimer's programmes in the world. A study of glofitamab against standard treatment in lymphoma is recruiting at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. And a trial of emicizumab in type 3 von Willebrand disease, a rare inherited bleeding disorder, is open at the Hospital for Sick Children. These and about 2,000 other studies are listed on our Toronto clinical trials page.
How Canadian clinical trials differ from US ones
The science is the same, and most large trials run in both countries at once. Four things are different for a participant.
Who approves the study. In Canada, Health Canada reviews and authorizes each trial, and a Research Ethics Board (REB) at the hospital approves the protocol and consent form, the equivalent of the US Institutional Review Board. Most Canadian trials are also registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, which is why they appear on this site. Health Canada expects sponsors to register in a registry that meets World Health Organization standards, and ClinicalTrials.gov is the one most of them use.
What your provincial plan covers. Your standard care continues under OHIP or your provincial plan while you are in a trial. Study specific procedures, tests, and the investigational treatment are paid for by the study sponsor, not by you and not by the province. You should never be asked to pay to take part.
Referrals. Toronto's major research hospitals, including all UHN sites, see patients by physician referral. Applying to a study does not require a referral, but if you are selected, the study team and your family doctor will coordinate, and for some studies a referral into the hospital's clinic is part of the process.
Privacy. Canadian trials operate under provincial health privacy law (in Ontario, PHIPA) as well as the study's own rules. Your data is coded, and consent forms explain exactly what is shared and with whom.
Paid clinical trials in Toronto
Compensation in Canadian trials is described as an honorarium or reimbursement, and Research Ethics Boards review the amounts to ensure they cover time and expenses without becoming an inducement. Treatment trials for medical conditions typically reimburse travel, parking, and TTC fares and offer a modest payment per visit. Healthy volunteer studies, mostly early phase pharmacology studies at research units in the Toronto area, pay more and may involve overnight stays. Compensation is always stated in the consent form before you agree to anything. Our guide to how much clinical trials pay covers the general ranges, and the Toronto location page lets you filter for studies that compensate. Questions about how an honorarium is treated for tax purposes are for the study team or the Canada Revenue Agency; rules differ from the US.
Practical notes for the GTA
A study "in Toronto" is usually downtown along University Avenue, but Sunnybrook is in North York, and many industry studies run at clinics in Mississauga, Vaughan, or Scarborough. Check the site address. Downtown hospital parking is expensive, and most study teams reimburse it or TTC fares; the University Avenue hospitals are steps from Queen's Park and St. Patrick stations. If you live in Hamilton, Kitchener, or Ottawa, some Toronto studies also run at McMaster, Grand River, or the Ottawa Hospital; the listing will show all Canadian sites. The general guide to finding trials near you covers how to read listings and eligibility.
How to apply for clinical trials in Toronto
Browse the Toronto clinical trials page, filter by condition, and click Get started on any study that fits. The application takes about 5 minutes, the research team contacts you if you appear to match, and nothing is decided until you have gone through informed consent with the study team. Participation is voluntary at every step, and you can withdraw at any time without affecting your regular care.
Common questions
Which Toronto hospitals run clinical trials? University Health Network (Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret, Toronto Rehab), the Hospital for Sick Children, Sunnybrook, Mount Sinai, St. Michael's, Women's College, CAMH, and many private research clinics across the GTA. Most large studies list several.
Do I need a referral to join a clinical trial in Toronto? Not to apply. If you are selected, the study team coordinates with your family doctor, and for some hospital based studies a referral into the clinic is part of enrolment.
Does OHIP cover clinical trials? OHIP continues to cover your standard care. Study specific tests, visits, and the investigational treatment are paid for by the sponsor. You should never be asked to pay to participate.
Are there paid clinical trials in Toronto? Yes. Compensation is described as an honorarium or reimbursement, reviewed by the Research Ethics Board, and stated in the consent form. Healthy volunteer studies at research units pay the most.
Can I join a US trial from Toronto? Sometimes, if the study has no Canadian site and you can travel; some sponsors cover it. Most large trials, though, run Canadian sites, and Toronto is usually the first to open.
See clinical trials in Toronto recruiting now
Browse open studies, filter by location, and apply in about 5 minutes: Toronto Clinical Trials