International Education News
BREAKING: 2026 Maclean's Canadian University Rankings Released!
Today, Maclean's Magazine, a leading publisher of university rankings in Canada, has unveiled its latest 2026 rankings.
Since 1991, Maclean's has been releasing its Canadian university rankings, making the 2026 edition the 35th annual installment of this established list. Its university rankings are widely recognized for their high credibility and value, earning the reputation as the essential "guidebook for school selection" in Canadian higher education.
For students and parents considering studying in Canada, this ranking provides a crucial reference point.
The Maclean's ranking categorizes Canadian universities into three distinct types based on their focus and mission: Medical/Doctoral, Comprehensive, and Primarily Undergraduate. Each category serves different educational demographics.
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Medical/Doctoral: These universities offer a wide range of Ph.D. programs and research, and all institutions in this category have medical schools.
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Comprehensive: These institutions have a high level of research activity and offer a diverse array of programs, including professional degrees.
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Primarily Undergraduate: This category focuses mainly on undergraduate education.
Ranking Methodology
For this year's ranking, Maclean's evaluated universities across five key areas, with each indicator assigned a specific weight:
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Students (20%): Primarily focuses on the number of national academic awards won by students (10%), such as Rhodes Scholarships, and the student-to-faculty ratio (10%), measuring opportunities for student-faculty interaction.
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Faculty (20%): Assesses the number of significant awards won by faculty in the past five years (8%) and the success rate of faculty in obtaining research grants, including grants for Social Sciences and Humanities, and Medical Science (6% each).
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Resources (22%): Evaluates the operating budget per full-time student (5%), total research funding (8%), the proportion of the operating budget allocated to library services (5%), and the percentage of the library budget spent on acquisitions (4%).
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Student Support (18%): Analyzes the percentage of the budget dedicated to student services (9%) and the proportion allocated to scholarships and bursaries (9%) to assess the level of support students receive.
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Reputation (20%): Through a reputation survey, gathers opinions from university faculty, senior administrators, and business leaders on each university, assessing its ability to meet student needs and the career readiness of its graduates.
The indicators used in the Maclean's ranking focus on evaluating the core aspects of university education, aiming for a relatively objective and pure assessment.
2026 Rankings Highlights
Medical/Doctoral Universities
Compared to the 2025 rankings, the top three positions remain unchanged, still held by the familiar leading trio. The most significant improvements came from two universities in Alberta. Notably, the University of Calgary jumped from 10th place last year to 5th, while the University of Alberta rose two spots to claim 4th place.
McMaster University was edged out by these two Alberta institutions, now ranking 5th, tied with the University of Calgary. Rankings for other schools showed no major changes compared to 2025.
Comprehensive Universities
The top six institutions in the Comprehensive category remain the same as last year: Simon Fraser University (SFU), University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, Carleton University, York University, and University of Guelph.
Primarily Undergraduate Universities
In the 2026 Primarily Undergraduate rankings, the top two spots are consistent with last year: Mount Allison University and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC).
Acadia University moved up from fourth place last year to join the top three. Last year's third-place institution, Saint Mary's University, now ranks fifth.
St. Francis Xavier University made the most remarkable leap, soaring from 10th place last year to 4th this year, making it the biggest dark horse in this year's rankings. Changes in the rankings of other schools were relatively minor compared to last year.
As the most authoritative university ranking in Canada, this list is an essential resource for students planning to study there.
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