University Rankings

Canada’s best universities by reputation: Rankings 2021

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

By Maclean's October 8, 2020

Burnaby orientation 2019. (Courtesy of Simon Fraser University)

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. This chart displays the results of the reputational ranking, combining all the universities from the Primarily Undergraduate, Comprehensive and Medical Doctoral categories into one group. Read more about this year’s winner: University of Toronto.

Rank	Best Overall	Rank	Highest Quality	Rank	Most Innovative	Rank	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	Montréal
8	Western	8	Alberta	8	Western	8	Calgary
9	Montréal	9	Dalhousie	9	Simon Fraser	9	Queen's
10	Simon Fraser	10	Montréal	10	Calgary	10	Simon Fraser
11	Calgary	11	Simon Fraser	11	Montréal	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

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