CA
Canada
Canada ranks between 2nd and 40th across the 45 technologies, by share of the 10% most cited papers, 2021–2025.
TechnologyRankIts neighbours in the rankingShare of the top 10%, from 2021 to 2025Its institution with the most credit
Electronic warfare
2–3tied, of 232.5 papers of credit
1stCN81.0%2–3CA2.1%2–3US1.4%4–19KR1.0%4–19PT0.8%
Polytechnique Montréal0.8% of the top 10%
Inertial navigation
3rdof 40
1stCN64.0%2ndUS6.4%3rdCA3.7%4thHK2.9%5–6GB2.3%
Carleton University1.1% of the top 10%
Optical communication
3–4tied, of 54
1stCN38.8%2ndUS12.4%3–4CA3.5%3–4GB3.5%5–6DE3.2%
McGill University0.7% of the top 10%
Critical minerals processing
4–5tied, of 58
1stCN43.0%2ndUS13.8%3rdAU4.3%4–5CA2.9%4–5IN2.8%6thGB2.4%
University of Toronto0.5% of the top 10%
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
4–5tied, of 70
1stUS38.7%2ndCN16.1%3rdDE3.5%4–5CA3.4%4–5JP3.3%6thAU2.7%
University of British Columbia0.9% of the top 10%
6G and advanced wireless
4thof 80
1stCN39.9%2ndGB9.0%3rdUS6.2%4thCA3.8%5thSG3.2%6thKR3.0%
Memorial University of Newfoundland0.6% of the top 10%
Drones and swarming
5thof 81
1stCN52.2%3rdGB3.8%4thKR3.7%5thCA2.6%6–7IN2.1%6–7SA2.1%
Carleton University0.5% of the top 10%
Sonar and underwater acoustics
5–8tied, of 37
1stCN71.6%3rdIT2.9%4thIN2.0%5–8CA1.6%5–8SA1.6%5–8AU1.6%
University of Ottawa0.4% of the top 10%
Quantum computing
7thof 71
1stUS34.9%5thCH3.7%6thJP3.4%7thCA3.3%8–9NL3.0%8–9AU2.9%
Xanadu Quantum Technologies (Canada)0.7% of the top 10%
Electric batteries
7thof 89
1stCN68.0%4–5DE2.2%6thAU1.9%7thCA1.7%8thHK1.5%9thIN1.3%
University of Waterloo0.4% of the top 10%
Satellite navigation
7thof 45
1stCN56.1%5–6AU2.2%5–6IT2.2%7thCA2.0%8–9FI1.8%8–9PL1.7%
University of Calgary0.7% of the top 10%
Nuclear fission power
6–7tied, of 64
1stCN43.3%4–5RU3.1%6–7FR2.1%6–7CA2.1%8thIN1.8%9thDE1.6%
University of British Columbia0.4% of the top 10%
Cybersecurity
7–9tied, of 104
1stCN14.8%5thGB3.8%6thAU3.7%7–9CA2.8%7–9PK2.8%7–9KR2.8%
Ontario Tech University0.2% of the top 10%
Autonomous underwater vehicles
8–13tied, of 443.7 papers of credit
1stCN71.7%4–6IR1.5%7thIN1.4%8–13CA1.0%8–13JP0.9%8–13DE0.8%
University of Guelph0.5% of the top 10%
Genome sequencing
7–9tied, of 59
1stUS33.6%6thCH2.0%7–9KR1.6%7–9CA1.6%7–9SE1.5%10–12ES1.4%
University of Toronto0.4% of the top 10%
Hydrogen by electrolysis
9thof 83
1stCN53.0%7thGB2.3%8thSA1.7%9thCA1.5%10thSG1.4%11thIT1.3%
University of Alberta0.3% of the top 10%
Large language models
10thof 96
1stCN27.4%8–9HK2.1%8–9IT2.1%10thCA1.7%11thSG1.6%12thJP1.4%
University of Alberta0.1% of the top 10%
Advanced aircraft engines
7–11tied, of 474.1 papers of credit
1stCN64.6%7–11PL1.3%7–11KR1.3%7–11CA1.2%7–11NZ1.2%12thCH0.9%
Ontario Tech University0.3% of the top 10%
Additive manufacturing
9–10tied, of 90
1stCN34.0%8thIR2.3%9–10DE2.1%9–10CA2.1%11thTR1.9%12thKR1.8%
University of Toronto0.3% of the top 10%
Gene editing
8–11tied, of 77
1stUS32.2%8–11IR1.6%8–11NL1.6%8–11CA1.6%8–11JP1.5%12thIT1.4%
University of Alberta0.3% of the top 10%
Hyperspectral imaging
10–12tied, of 54
1stCN71.4%8–9DE1.1%8–9GB1.0%10–12CA0.9%10–12JP0.8%10–12HK0.8%
Memorial University of Newfoundland0.2% of the top 10%
New antibiotics and antivirals
10thof 82
1stCN30.3%8–9DE2.3%8–9IR2.2%10thCA2.1%11–12SA1.9%11–12ES1.9%
McMaster University0.4% of the top 10%
Distributed ledgers
10thof 103
1stCN20.6%8thKR2.6%9thAE2.3%10thCA2.2%11–12PK2.1%11–12HK2.0%
University Canada West0.3% of the top 10%
Quantum communication
11–13tied, of 57
1stCN28.9%9–10FR2.5%9–10NL2.5%11–13CA2.1%11–13CH2.0%11–13DK1.9%
University of Waterloo0.5% of the top 10%
Radar
10–15tied, of 412.3 papers of credit
1stCN77.0%7–9AU0.5%10–15FI0.5%10–15CA0.4%10–15NL0.4%10–15HK0.4%
University of Waterloo0.2% of the top 10%
Synthetic biology
11–14tied, of 55
1stCN45.7%9–10AU1.2%9–10CH1.1%11–14CA0.9%11–14BE0.8%11–14FR0.8%
University of British Columbia0.2% of the top 10%
Advanced chip manufacturing
13–20tied, of 392.3 papers of credit
1stCN31.8%11–12CH1.0%11–12NL0.8%13–20CA0.6%13–20AU0.6%13–20SG0.6%
Carleton University0.3% of the top 10%
Advanced composites
12–14tied, of 68
1stCN50.8%10–11MY0.9%12–14FR0.9%12–14CA0.9%12–14JP0.9%15–18SA0.8%
Polytechnique Montréal0.3% of the top 10%
Metamaterials
14thof 73
1stCN55.5%12thSA1.2%13thIT1.1%14thCA1.0%15thNL0.7%16–20CH0.5%
University of Toronto0.3% of the top 10%
Advanced robotics
14thof 54
1stCN31.5%12thFR1.8%13thNL1.6%14thCA1.3%15thES1.1%16–17PT0.8%
University of British Columbia0.2% of the top 10%
Perovskite solar cells
15–16tied, of 76
1stCN53.9%13thPK1.0%14thIT0.9%15–16CA0.8%15–16SG0.8%17thES0.7%
University of Toronto0.5% of the top 10%
Post-quantum cryptography
15–17tied, of 594.2 papers of credit
1stCN20.4%11–14FR1.5%15–17BE1.4%15–17CA1.3%15–17IQ1.2%18–26HK1.0%
University of Saskatchewan0.3% of the top 10%
Supercapacitors
17–18tied, of 86
1stCN46.3%14–15JP0.8%16thHK0.7%17–18CA0.6%17–18DE0.6%19–21ES0.5%
University of Alberta0.1% of the top 10%
Quantum sensors
17–21tied, of 483.9 papers of credit
1stCN22.5%14–16BE1.1%14–16SG1.0%17–21CA0.9%17–21HU0.9%17–21DK0.8%
University of Calgary0.3% of the top 10%
AI chips
17–19tied, of 464.6 papers of credit
1stCN46.2%14–15AU1.2%16thNL0.9%17–19CA0.7%17–19JP0.6%17–19AE0.5%
University of Waterloo0.4% of the top 10%
Hydrogen storage and ammonia fuel
17–19tied, of 68
1stCN44.5%14–16IT1.3%14–16DK1.3%17–19CA1.2%17–19HK1.1%17–19NO1.1%
University of Calgary0.3% of the top 10%
Magnets and superconductors
17–20tied, of 583.5 papers of credit
1stCN35.0%12–16TR0.9%17–20AU0.8%17–20CA0.8%17–20DK0.7%17–20NL0.7%
Polytechnique Montréal0.3% of the top 10%
Small satellites
15–23tied, of 471.6 papers of credit
1stUS13.7%15–23FI1.5%15–23TR1.5%15–23CA1.3%15–23DK1.3%15–23PL1.2%
York University0.8% of the top 10%
Hypersonic flight
18–24tied, of 280.6 papers of credit
1stCN65.9%18–24TR0.3%18–24NL0.2%18–24CA0.2%18–24SE0.1%18–24NA0.1%
Concordia University0.1% of the top 10%
Directed energy
10–21tied, of 210.1 papers of credit
1stCN57.5%10–21GR0.1%10–21KW0.1%10–21PL0.1%10–21SA0.1%10–21CA0.1%
University of Calgary0.1% of the top 10%
Wide-bandgap semiconductors
19–22tied, of 563.8 papers of credit
1stCN40.8%19–22BE0.6%19–22SG0.5%19–22CA0.5%23–29NL0.4%23–29BD0.4%
Ontario Tech University0.1% of the top 10%
Nuclear fusion
23–30tied, of 501.1 papers of credit
1stUS27.5%20–22PT0.3%23–30NO0.2%23–30CA0.1%23–30AU0.1%23–30IR0.1%
University of Alberta0.1% of the top 10%
High-performance computing
36–40tied, of 450.3 papers of credit
1stUS36.3%36–40MX0.1%36–40PT0.1%36–40CA0.1%36–40PK0.1%36–40TR0.1%
Outside the top 30
York University0.1% of the top 10%
Atomic clocks
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Space launch
Not ranked
No credit in the top 10%.
Neighbours are the countries ranked just above and below. Ranks are shown as a range where shares are equal to one decimal place. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Where Canada is in the top three
PilotEach paper sorted into one sub-area by an AI model reading its title and abstract, then credited as usual. On 200 hand-labelled papers it chose the same sub-area, or a defensible second, 92% of the time. Shown where the sub-area has at least 30 papers in the top 10% and the country at least five papers of credit.
- 3rdAI, semantic communication and network intelligence6G and advanced wireless, 142 papers; behind China 33.1% and United States 7.0%6.5%
- 3rdLithium-ion battery recyclingCritical minerals processing, 109 papers; behind China 46.5% and United States 6.4%5.5%
- 3rdSilicon and silicon-nitride photonic platformsOptical communication, 146 papers; behind China 37.2% and United States 18.0%4.5%