A new university ranking has named three Canadian schools as the top 50 post-secondary institutions in the world.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2025 was released today, highlighting eye-opening findings about Canadian post-secondary institutions and their performance on a global scale.
The 21st edition of the report ranked 2,092 universities from 115 countries and regions. It used 18 performance indicators, grouped into five areas to determine its findings.
According to the report, the three top Canadian universities and how they rank internationally are:
- #21: University of Toronto
- #41: University of British Columbia
- #45: McGill University
The University of Toronto’s and UBC’s rankings remained the same as last year. McGill was the only Canadian university in the top 300 to improve its position from 2024, climbing four places to 45th.
Canadian universities’ performance on a decline
Times noted that while the country’s elite schools have “remained steady” in their rankings, over “two-fifths of the country’s overall representatives have declined as global competition intensifies.”
Of the 33 Canadian universities ranked this year, nearly all of them (except for McGill and the University of Victoria) dropped in placements or remained in the same positions as last year.
Some of the biggest declines were seen from McMaster University, which ranked 103rd in 2024 but fell to 116th spot this year, and the University of Ottawa, which went from 177th place to 191st.
Eight Canadian universities were named in the ranking’s top 200.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
Phil Baty, Times Higher Education’s chief global affairs officer, noted that despite Canada having some of the world’s best schools, “the continued fall of a significant number of Canadian universities is a cause for concern.”
Times conducted a deeper analysis of Canadian institutions ranked in 2024 and 2025, showing that the decline in teaching and research reputation are driving factors behind the country’s drop in rankings.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
“Alongside the existing downward pressure on ranking positions amid growing global competition comes the introduction of restrictions and caps on the number of international students which is driving a significant drop in international student recruitment,” added Baty.
Internationally, the UK’s University of Oxford placed first in the global rankings, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in second, and Harvard in third.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
Baty concluded that this year’s Times data should serve as a “warning signal that there’s a risk of a vicious circle here — with Canada losing its competitive edge as a magnet for international talent and collaborations.”
You can find the full ranking here.