Canada's Universities Ranked 2022 - 2023

Canadian University Rankings

Canada is home to numerous prestigious universities and institutions for students to further their education. However, many may be wondering - which school is right for them? How should they choose their university and major? Teachers often recommend students to look at university rankings and their most reputable programs, as well as the student life. By using these rankings, students will be able to narrow down their options and create application goals. If you look online for Canadian university rankings, you will find that there are many, so which one should you focus on? How can you use these lists to effectively plan your post-secondary education and future employment? Take a look at StudyPug Learning’s university ranking to get started.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by these rankings or confused on how to select the best university that fits your needs, consider consulting StudyPug Learning’s academic consultant to discuss your options for the future and how to succeed in your academic studies.

View our analysis of Canadian university rankings!

USNews University Rankings, QS University Rankings, ARWU University Rankings, THE University Rankings, and Maclean's University Rankings are currently the world’s most recognized university rankings. These rankings reflect a comprehensive consideration of the education and cognition of each university from different perspectives, and each list’s criteria is slightly different from one another.

For example, USNews is more inclined toward North American schools, whereas Maclean’s focuses on Canadian universities. USNews and THE focus more on the academic research capabilities available in each institution, and QS evaluates the number of international students and faculty employed. All of these different factors affect how universities are ranked differently from list to list.

However, the quality of education, status, and value of a university should not be determined solely by how they are ranked worldwide. Prospective students should use these rankings as a reference for narrowing down which school to attend rather than selecting one based on how high they rank. Because of how each list is based on varying criteria, students should study which rankings best align with their interests, as well as take into account their own hobbies, future plans, aptitude test results, and other factors like majors or areas of interest to select the school that they believe they will excel best in.

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#	Best Overall	#	Highest Quality	#	Most Innovative	#	Leaders of Tomorrow
1	Toronto	1	Toronto	1	Toronto	1	Toronto
2	UBC	2	McGill	2	Waterloo	2	UBC
3	Waterloo	3	UBC	3	UBC	3	McGill
4	McGill	4	Waterloo	4	McGill	4	Waterloo
5	McMaster	5	McMaster	5	McMaster	5	McMaster
6	Alberta	6	Queen's	6	Alberta	6	Alberta
7	Queen's	7	Western	7	Queen's	7	Montreal
8	Western	8	Alberta	8	Western	8	Calgary
9	Montreal	9	Dalhousie	9	Simon Fraser	9	Queen's
10	Simon Fraser	10	Montreal	10	Calgary	10	Simon Fraser
11	Calgary	11	Simon Fraser	11	Montreal	11	Ryerson
12	Dalhousie	12	Calgary	12	Guelph	12	Western
13	Guelph	13	Victoria	13	Dalhousie	13	Laval
14	Victoria	14	Guelph	14	Ryerson	14	Concordia
15	Ryerson	15	Ottawa	15	Victoria	15	Victoria
16	Laval	16	Laval	16	Concordia	16	York
17	Concordia	17	Concordia	17	Laval	17	Sherbrooke
18	Ottawa	18	Memorial	18	Sherbrooke	18	Guelph
19	Sherbrooke	19	Saskatchewan	19	Ottawa	19	Dalhousie
20	York	20	Ryerson	20	Saskatchewan	20	Saskatchewan
21	Saskatchewan	21	Wilfrid Laurier	21	York	21	Carleton
22	Memorial	22	York	22	Memorial	22	Ottawa
23	Carleton	23	Sherbrooke	23	Carleton	23	UQAM
24	Wilfrid Laurier	24	Carleton	24	Ontario Tech	24	Manitoba
25	UQAM	25	Mount Allison	25	Wilfrid Laurier	25	Wilfrid Laurier
26	Manitoba	26	UQAM	26	UQAM	26	Brock
27	St. Francis Xavier	27	Acadia	27	Manitoba	27	Ontario Tech
28	Acadia	28	Manitoba	28	St. Francis Xavier	28	Memorial
29	Mount Allison	29	St. Francis Xavier	29	Brock	29	Regina
30	New Brunswick	30	Saint Mary's	30	Acadia	30	Lethbridge
31	Ontario Tech	31	New Brunswick	31	New Brunswick	31	Acadia
32	Brock	32	Lethbridge	32	Saint Mary's	32	Trent
33	Saint Mary's	33	Bishop's	33	Lethbridge	33	Lakehead
34	Lethbridge	34	Brock	34	Regina	34	New Brunswick
35	Regina	35	Regina	35	Windsor	35	St. Francis Xavier
36	Trent	36	Trent	36	Mount Allison	36	UNBC
37	Bishop's	37	UPEI	37	Lakehead	37	Mount Allison
38	Windsor	38	Windsor	38	Trent	38	Saint Mary's
39	Lakehead	39	UNBC	39	UNBC	39	Windsor
40	UNBC	40	Ontario Tech	40	UPEI	40	Laurentian
41	UPEI	41	Lakehead	41	Bishop's	41	Winnipeg
42	Winnipeg	42	Winnipeg	42	Winnipeg	42	Bishop's
43	Moncton	43	Moncton	43	Laurentian	43	Cape Breton
44	Mount Saint Vincent	44	Mount Saint Vincent	44	Mount Saint Vincent	44	Brandon
45	Laurentian	45	Laurentian	45	Moncton	45	UPEI
46	Cape Breton	46	St.Thomas	46	Cape Breton	46	Moncton
47	St.Thomas	47	Cape Breton	47	Brandon	47	Nipissing
48	Brandon	48	Brandon	48	St.Thomas	48	Mount Saint Vincent
49	Nipissing	49	Nipissing	49	Nipissing	49	St.Thomas

Maclean’s Canadian University Ranking Criteria for 2022

About Maclean's

The Maclean University Rankings has been published annually by Maclean’s Magazine since 1991. Their ranking is comprehensive, with a classification system reflective of Canadian universities, with categories such as Doctoral, Comprehensive, and Primarily Undergraduate. It also ranks universities based on entry requirements, overall reputation, and student satisfaction, among others. These rankings are nationally recognized throughout the country and serve as an important standard for both domestic and international students when choosing their university and major.

Maclean's Rating Basis

The university ranking is based on 5 fields and 13 performance indicators. It is also based on academic status (28%), scientific research level (20%), educational resources (22%), student support (15%), and the reputation of the school (15%).

Student Status (28%)
This is the best reference factor to measure a school’s academics, including: the proportion of students who have won academic awards/national scholarships in the past five years, teacher-student ratio, and student satisfaction.

Teaching and Research Level (20%)
The evaluation factors of teaching and research level include: the proportion of faculty and staff who have won major awards in the past five years, research grants received, and the rate of research publication and citation.

Educational Resources (22%)
The evaluation criteria for educational factors include: school teaching funds, school research funds, and school library operating funds.

Student Support (15%)
For students, scholarships are also one of the reference factors for whether to apply for a university, and Maclean's reference factors for this scoring are: student services, scholarships and grants.

School Reputation (15%)
School reputation is also one of the reference factors that need to be paid attention to in university applications.

Maclean's Summary

2022 marks the 31st year in which the Canadian University Rankings were published by Maclean’s Magazine. Maclean will also launch the Canadian Medical Doctoral University Rankings and Canadian Basic University Rankings based on school reputation, research funding, and curriculum diversity.

Below are three rankings, each with a different emphasis. First are universities ranked for their doctoral program, including medical schools and range of doctoral degrees and research topics. Second is a general ranking focused on the diversity of courses offered by universities. Finally, a general ranking that measures the overall standard of undergraduate education at a university.

QS World University Ranking Criteria for 2021

About QS

QS University Rankings consists of American universities and is published by Quacquarelli Symonds, a UK-based international education consulting firm. The organization was established in 1990 and has branches all over the world, with its main purpose being to provide academic references for undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and working students internationally. Their university rankings were recognized in 2010 by the IREG (International Association for Academic Ranking and Excellence), and offers one of the most extensive rankings in the world. Some of their scoring criteria are academic reputation, employer reputation, teacher-student ratio, research citation rate, and internationalization. It is rated as one of the most watched university rankings in the world because of its transparency.

QS Score Basis

In 2022, the QS University Rankings were based on six main criteria: employability (27%), teaching strength (22%), research strength (26%), and diversity and internationalization (25%). Although its reviews are polarized because of subjective and commercial scoring criteria, it is undeniable that these rankings are one of the most influential in the world. As the second oldest ranking list internationally, QS evaluates the academic success and employment rate of each university, also analyzing the social influence of each school, which is valuable information for students curious about a school’s reputation. It can also serve as reference for graduates seeking employment.