The best university towns in the world were just ranked and Canadian cities dropped spots
Affordability is a factor in this best student cities ranking! 👀
University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver. Right: Students at McGill University in Montreal.
A new ranking of the best university cities in the world is out now, and it revealed the top places for students.
The four Canadian cities that are included on this year's list dropped spots.
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released the new QS Best Student Cities Ranking on July 15, 2025.
It ranks 150 cities in 58 countries and territories around the world based on university rankings, student mix, desirability, employer activity, affordability, and student view.
Also, the places must have a population of over 250,000 and at least two universities in the most recent QS World University Rankings to make this list.
These are the top five student cities in the world, according to the new QS ranking:
- Seoul
- Tokyo
- London
- Munich
- Melbourne
After that, Sydney is in sixth, Berlin and Paris are tied for seventh, Zurich is ninth, and Vienna is tenth.
QS revealed that all four of the Canadian university cities that made the ranking this year have dropped spots.
But it's not all bad news because these university towns in Canada are still in the global top 100!
Montreal is the top Canadian city in the QS Best Student Cities Ranking and is tied for 18th in the world with Kyoto.
It has an overall score of 87.8 out of 100 thanks to top marks in the student view, student mix, employer activity, and desirability categories.
But the city has lower scores in the affordability and university ranking categories.
Montreal's universities include McGill University, Université de Montréal and Concordia University.
Toronto is ranked as the 22nd best city for students in the world, with an overall score of 87 out of 100.
It has high scores in student view, student mix, employer activity, and desirability, but lower scores in the affordability and university ranking categories.
There are quite a few post-secondary schools in Toronto, including the University of Toronto, York University and Toronto Metropolitan University.
Vancouver is tied for 29th with Prague in this ranking of the best cities for students.
It has an overall score of 83.4 out of 100 and got high marks in the student view, student mix, employer activity and desirability categories.
But the city has low scores in the affordability and university ranking categories.
Vancouver actually has the lowest affordability score of any Canadian city in this QS ranking.
Both the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University are located in Vancouver.
Ottawa is tied for 80th with Atlanta and Abu Dhabi, and has an overall score of 65.4 out of 100.
It scores highly in the student view, student mix, and desirability categories, but not in employer activity, affordability, and university rankings.
Canada's capital city has a few post-secondary schools, including the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.
Recently, QS also released the 2026 World University Rankings, and the University of Toronto was dethroned as Canada's national leader!
More than 20 schools in Canada were included in that ranking of the best universities in the world.