A new ranking of the world's best universities is out and U of T almost made the top 10

UBC and McGill didn't rank as well as U of T. 👀

building on university of toronto campus

University of Toronto campus.

Chon Kit Leong | Dreamstime
Senior Writer

This new ranking of the best universities in the world just revealed what the top post-secondary schools are.

University of Toronto beat all Canadian schools and almost cracked the top 10 globally!

On June 17, 2025, U.S. News released the 2025-2026 Best Global Universities Ranking.

It evaluated more than 2,250 post-secondary institutions from over 100 countries based on academic research and reputation.

More than 30 Canadian universities made the list for the 2025-2026 academic year.

These are the top 10 post-secondary schools in the new Best Global Universities Ranking:

  1. Harvard University
  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  3. Stanford University
  4. University of Oxford
  5. University of Cambridge
  6. University of California, Berkeley
  7. University College London
  8. University of Washington, Seattle
  9. Yale University
  10. Columbia University

University of Toronto is tied for 16th overall with Cornell University, Princeton University, and the University of California, San Francisco.

It's the top-ranked university in Canada on this list.

After that, the University of British Columbia is tied for 41st, and McGill is tied for 62nd.

McMaster University (tied for 146th overall) and the University of Alberta (tied for 156th overall) round out the top five schools in Canada.

Here's how the other Canadian universities ranked on the Best Global Universities list for the 2025-2026 academic year:

  • Université de Montréal — 192nd
  • University of Waterloo —197th
  • University of Calgary — 204th
  • University of Ottawa — 256th
  • Western University — 314th
  • Dalhousie University — 385th
  • University of Victoria — 394th
  • Queen's University — 416th
  • Simon Fraser University — 424th
  • University of Manitoba — 440th
  • Université Laval — 451st
  • York University — 514th
  • University of Guelph — 556th
  • University of Saskatchewan — 568th
  • Carleton University — 616th
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland696th
  • Concordia University — 755th
  • Université du Québec à Montréal — 847th
  • University of New Brunswick — 919th
  • University of Regina — 979th
  • Toronto Metropolitan University — 1041st
  • University of Windsor — 1125th
  • École de technologie supérieure1271st
  • Lakehead University — 1372nd
  • Wilfred Laurier University — 1507th
  • Brock University — 1637th
  • Laurentian University — 1759th
  • Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières 1917th
  • Saint Mary's University1933rd
  • Trent University — 1979th
  • University of Lethbridge — 2026th
  • Université du Québec à Chicoutimi — 2033rd

There have already been quite a few world university rankings this year, including ones based on subjects, reputation, and career readiness.

In a recent ranking of the best universities in the world, more than half of the Canadian universities dropped spots compared to last year.

University of Toronto is usually the number one post-secondary school in these rankings.

But when Narcity asked Canadians what the best university in the country is, U of T got third place!

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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