Education

Canada’s best universities by reputation: Rankings 2022

We surveyed university faculty and senior administrators, as well as a variety of business people across the country, asking for their views on quality and innovation at Canadian universities

Maclean’s surveyed university faculty and senior administrators, as well as a variety of business people across the country, asking for their views on quality and innovation at Canadian universities. The following charts display the results of the reputational ranking, combining all the universities from the Primarily Undergraduate, Comprehensive and Medical Doctoral categories into one group. 

In an online survey, respondents were asked to rate universities in three areas: Highest Quality, Most Innovative and Leaders of Tomorrow. This chart shows the overall results representing the sum of the scores for all three areas.

Best overall


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

Read more about this year’s winner for best overall reputation: University of Toronto.

Highest quality

This chart shows how respondents rated universities when asked to consider the question of quality.


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

Most innovative

This chart shows how respondents rated universities when asked to consider the question of innovation.


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

Leaders of tomorrow

Respondents were asked to select up to three universities that are emerging as leaders of tomorrow.


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

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