The University of Toronto (U of T) is a public research university with three campuses in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. Based on the grounds that surround Queen's Park in Toronto, it was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada. Originally controlled by the Church of England, the university assumed its present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution.
Its three campuses are known as St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough. Its large downtown Toronto campus, St. George, is the oldest of the three and operates as a collegiate university, comprising 11 colleges, each with substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs and significant differences in character and history.