A new best universities in the world ranking is out and most Canadian schools dropped spots
Apparently, this is "cause for concern." 👀
University of Toronto. Right: McGill University.
There's a new ranking of the world's best universities, and a lot of post-secondary schools in Canada made the cut.
But most of the universities in Canada on this list have dropped spots compared to last year.
On June 2, 2025, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), an education and research consulting organization, released a new list of the top post-secondary institutions.
Universities are assessed on academic success, the employability of graduates, faculty members with academic distinctions, and the quality of research.
In this year's addition of the CWUR list, more than half of the Canadian universities that made the ranking have dropped spots.
This decline is due to lower performance in research, which is "cause for concern" because of "intensified global competition," according to CWUR.
There are 38 universities in Canada included in the 2025 ranking, with the University of Toronto named as the top post-secondary institution in this country.
U of T is one of the few Canadian universities that maintained its spot in the ranking from last year.
Even though it improved in employability, the school declined in research.
In the global top 2000, only seven Canadian post-secondary institutions improved compared to the 2024 list. A staggering 28 universities in Canada dropped down the ranking.
"Canada is struggling to compete against rivals worldwide," CWUR said.
These are the top 10 post-secondary schools in Canada on the new world's best universities ranking:
- University of Toronto — 23rd overall, no change from last year
- McGill University — 27th overall, no change from last year
- University of British Columbia — 48th overall, up from last year
- University of Alberta — 81st overall, no change from last year
- University of Montreal — 124th overall, down from last year
- Western University — 18th overall, up from last year
- McMaster University — 186th overall, down from last year
- University of Calgary — 202nd overall, down from last year
- University of Waterloo — 211th overall, down from last year
- University of Ottawa — 220th overall, down from last year
These are the rest of the Canadian universities that made the 2025 ranking, along with whether the schools moved up or down since last year:
- University of Manitoba — 295th overall (down)
- Laval University — 305th overall (down)
- Queen's University — 333rd overall (down)
- Dalhousie University — 353rd overall (down)
- Simon Fraser University — 405th overall (down)
- University of Saskatchewan — 418th overall (down)
- University of Victoria — 439th overall (down)
- York University — 490th overall (down)
- University of Guelph — 515th overall (down)
- Carleton University — 558th overall (up)
- University of Sherbrooke — 622nd overall (down)
- Concordia University — 629th overall (down)
- Memorial University of Newfoundland — 671st overall (down)
- University of Québec at Montreal — 680th overall (down)
- Toronto Metropolitan University — 850th overall (up)
- University of Windsor — 1019th overall (down)
- Institut national de la recherche scientifique — 1023rd overall (down)
- University of New Brunswick— 1098th overall (up)
- University of Regina — 1137th overall (down)
- Wilfrid Laurier University — 1291st overall (down)
- Brock University — 1305th overall (down)
- École de technologie supérieure — 1365th overall (up)
- Lakehead University — 1401st overall (down)
- University of Québec at Trois-Rivières — 1717th overall (up)
- Trent University — 1723rd overall (down)
- University of Lethbridge — 1749th overall (down)
- Ontario Tech University — 1802nd overall (down)
- Laurentian University — 1847th overall (down)
Nadim Mahassen, the president of CWUR, said Canada is well represented among the top universities, but the decline of this country's academic institutions is "alarming."
Recently, the University of Toronto has been named the best university in Canada in a few world university rankings for 2025.
But when Narcity asked Canadians to reveal the best university in this country, U of T wasn't the top choice!
Love this? Check out our Narcity noticeboard for details on jobs, benefits, travel info and more!