Canada's most fun university has been revealed — Here's my ranking of the best party schools

#8. University of British Columbia — Vancouver, B.C.

Of all the universities in Canada, UBC seems to have one of the biggest international draws. I've lived in the U.S. for 10 years, and I'm always surprised by how many people I've met who considered UBC when they were thinking about going to university internationally.

And Vancouverites, you already know what the draw is: nature. Or maybe the robotics department? Wreck Beach? Because it's definitely not the Greek life.

I actually went to a few UBC parties in high school — shhh, don't tell 🤫 — and they kind of blew. That said... Bimini's Wednesday College Night was the golden age of the Vancouver club scene. Nothing hit like the first week back from Winter Break. The drama. The drinks. That damn club photographer.

Anyway. You're going to school on an absolutely gorgeous campus in one of Canada's most beautiful cities, with the ocean, mountains and beaches basically in your backyard. There are certainly worse places to spend four years.

#7. University of Guelph — Guelph, Ontario

Guelph is staying on the list because I've decided every ranking needs one wholesome entry before things start to deteriorate.

One of the big campus traditions involves "Old Jeremiah," an antique cannon that students sneak out to paint after dark. The catch is that once you've painted it, you're supposed to guard it until sunrise so nobody comes along and paints over your masterpiece.

That's so delightfully university to me.

Will this compete with the absolute degeneracy we're about to encounter higher on this list? Probably not.

But if you want the kind of university experience where you make friends in residence, participate in weird traditions and somehow end up guarding a painted cannon at 3 a.m., Guelph seems pretty damn cute to me.

#6. Dalhousie — Halifax, Nova Scotia

My best friend went to Dal — which I obviously thought was f*cking WILD at the time. We were Vancouver kids, so I just could not fathom why on earth she would move to Nova Scotia??

But when I got a pretty good window into what student life there looked like — it clicked. She had an amazing friend group, including a lot of locals. Halifax has a genuinely fun bar and pub scene, and there's something about being on the East Coast that feels like its own little university universe.

My issue? Every time we FaceTimed during the winter, I was like: "Absolutely not."

If I'm going to spend four years going out, I want to be able to dress cute. If you're wearing a short skirt in Halifax in February, you'll need the most opaque thermal tights known to mankind underneath it.

Maybe that's superficial, but getting dressed up is half the fun of university. I'm standing by it.

#5. Queen's University — Kingston, Ontario

Kingston feels like a proper mid-size university town; the campus and surrounding student neighbourhoods make everything feel incredibly concentrated, and there's enough school spirit that going to Queen's seems to be a spot where you make "friends for life." Not a snowball's chance in hell could I explain the origins of that Gaelic fight song. I just know "oil thigh" and then mumble some other sh*t while I chug my Molson.

I like the slightly ridiculous, all-consuming experience where your friends live down the street, everyone is going to the same places, and the cool letterman jackets are actually worn by the engineering students?? It's giving the "limit does not exist."

#4. Western University — the REAL London

OK, so everything I said about Queen's applies here, except Western just takes it to the next level. It has basically everything you'd want from a traditional party-school experience: a huge student population, big parties, school spirit and the kind of social scene where something always seems to be happening.

My friends who went to Western literally always had a house guest. There was always somebody sleeping on somebody's couch, even on a random Tuesday.

For me, though, the Western student lifestyle is a little too grimy.

A long-weekend bender? Absolutely. Four years of it? I don't know.

Western gives me the feeling that your kitchen counter will always be slightly sticky and permanently stained with the ghosts of spilled vodka crans past. Some people will read that sentence and immediately think Western should be No. 1 on this list — I understand those people — I am simply not one of them.

#3. Bishop's University — Sherbrooke, Quebec

Pretty sure Bishop's has fewer students than some of the high schools in Vancouver, which means there's one major advantage — and one terrifying disadvantage — to going there: everyone knows everyone.

At 18, though? That's FUN.

You go to a party and actually know half the people there. Your friends know your crush. Your crush knows your ex. Your ex probably knows what you did last night before you do.

Unlike at a giant university, where you can make a terrible decision on Saturday and disappear anonymously into a lecture hall on Monday, there's really nowhere to hide at Bishop's. The person you made out with last night lives there. Unfortunately, you're probably going to see them at breakfast.

Add Quebec's drinking age of 18, and suddenly this tiny university starts making a lot of sense to me. By fourth year, I'd probably be desperate to move somewhere nobody knew my name. At 18? Sign me up.

#2. McGill University — Montreal, Quebec

McGill isn't necessarily going to out-party Western on pure chaos, but that's exactly why I'd rather go there.

You get a unique blend of a genuine university experience and living like an actual adult in one of Canada's coolest cities.

You're not limited to frat parties and somebody's questionable student house. You're in Montreal. You can go to clubs, bars, restaurants, concerts and festivals. You can spend one night doing something deeply university-coded and the next pretending you're an impossibly sophisticated 19-year-old who simply lives in Montreal now.

And because of Quebec's legal drinking age, you're actually able to participate in the city's nightlife for basically your entire university experience.

For me, that's almost unbeatable.

Almost...

#1. St. Francis Xavier University — Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Curve ball!

If I were ranking the coolest cities to attend university in, McGill would win. But I'm not. I'm ranking where I think it would be most fun to go to university, so I'm giving StFX the crown.

St. Francis Xavier is basically the opposite of my own university experience. I went to university in London (the fake one in the U.K.), and while I had an amazing time living in London, part of me regrets not getting the full-blown party-school experience.

Thankfully, I had friends at universities all over the place, so I spent plenty of weekends visiting them, couch-surfing and getting little glimpses into that world. And there's something you can do at 19 or 20 that becomes significantly less charming as you approach 30: be a complete sh*thead.

Stay out until some ungodly hour. Sleep on your friend's floor. Eat garbage. Go to a ridiculous house party. Wake up and discover that somehow everyone is doing it again the next day.

StFX is my No. 1 because it seems to offer that experience in its purest form. Antigonish is tiny, the university dominates the town, school spirit is huge, and StFX has developed a serious reputation for knowing how to party.

Will you necessarily leave with the sophisticated metropolitan experience you'd get at McGill? No.

But you have the rest of your life to be sophisticated.

You only get a few years where being a complete mess with all your friends is practically part of the curriculum.