Canada slips slightly in top universities ranking, but experts say look carefully at the details

An annual tally of top universities worldwide is out, with some of Canada’s biggest schools slipping down in ranking, but experts say these lists must be taken with a grain of salt.

The Center for World University Rankings announced its list of the 2,000 top schools around the globe on Monday. Ranking more than 21,000 institutions, its analysts compiled data across four topic areas — education (worth 25 per cent), employability (25 per cent), faculty (10 per cent) and research (40 per cent) — to determine their ratings.

They consider factors like whether the school has researchers who’ve published in high-quality journals and staffers who’ve been recognized with top distinctions in their field, as well as whether schools have graduates working in top posts at the world’s largest 2,000 public companies.

The University of Toronto maintained its 23rd-place ranking this year for the fourth consecutive year, while McGill University (28), the University of British Columbia (49) and the University of Alberta (82) each slipped down one spot from last year’s tally.

The top 10 Canadian universities in the 2026 ranking:

• University of Toronto (23rd).
• McGill University (28th).
• UBC (49th).
• University of Alberta (82nd).
• University of Montreal (126th).
• Western University (187th).
• McMaster University (190th).
• University of Calgary (203rd).
• University of Waterloo (216th).
• University of Ottawa (226th).

Altogether, 38 Canadian universities — schools in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — made this year’s overall ranking.

Harvard University, one of its perennial chart-toppers, once again landed the No. 1 slot, with a familiar batch of U.S. schools dominating the top 10. Venerable British institutions Cambridge and Oxford — regulars of this list — are also once again represented at the top.

The global top 10 list for 2026:

1. Harvard University.
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
3. Stanford University.
4. University of Cambridge.
5. University of Oxford.
6. Princeton University.
7. University of Pennsylvania.
8. Columbia University.
9. Yale University.
10. University of Chicago.

With 360 schools represented, China was the country with the most universities making the group’s global cut of 2,000. The U.S. had the second-most schools, with 313.

The impact of rankings

School rankings are a massive industry, according to Michelle Stack, an associate professor of educational studies at UBC, whose expertise includes university rankings.

Lists can have a huge impact, she said, since “students look at rankings, governments look at rankings, funders look at rankings — even though there’s been all sorts of studies that point to rankings being really problematic in terms of methodology.”

It’s vital to take a close look at exactly what factors are valued in these tallies, she said, pointing out that institutions placing high in rankings often spend more on branding, recruitment and doing well based on the specific criteria prioritized by ranking bodies.

“Top-ranked universities are the wealthiest universities. So often, they generally have wealthier students that go to them. But does that really make them a better university?” Stack said.

“[Rankings] don’t really tell us anything about education or how to improve education.”

Meti Basiri, CEO and co-founder of ApplyBoard, a platform connecting students with post-secondary schools worldwide, thinks rankings are important, “but it’s not everything right now.”

He’s more concerned about Canada’s post-secondary sector brand, which has taken a hit globally amid the volatility of the past few years due to the federal restrictions on international students.

Fewer international students has meant several things, he said, like less tuition revenue schools can invest in different programs and a smaller pool of Master’s and PhD students, vital for post-secondary research (and the most heavily weighted section in the Center for World University Rankings’ tally, he pointed out).

“Research-based universities need talent, and that talent tends to come [from] outside of Canada,” he said from Kitchener, Ont.

“If you’re not getting the PhD students showing up at your campus to do the research, you’re gonna sink.”

While it’s a nice perk to see your school ranked as one of the world’s best, some Canadian students told CBC News rankings aren’t the deciding factor.

“For me, [more important] was convenience, education, professors’ experience and overall unversity experience,” said Isabelle Bergeron, a post-graduate student studying at Simon Fraser University.

Factors will vary from person to person, but Simon Fraser graduate student Gian-Luca Barbato said he chose the right fit personally.

“It’s always important to choose which [institution] you feel is the best for you, rather than just based off rankings.”