General information on ranking
Name of the ranking | Maclean’s University Rankings |
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Geographical scope | general ranking |
Name of person in charge of ranking | Mary Dwyer |
Website of the ranking | https://macleans.ca/universityrankings2025; https:... |
Publication frequency | annual |
First year of publication | 1991 |
Most recent year of publication | 2024 |
Date of last update | 2024-10-28 |
Ranking organization | Maclean’s Magazine |
Website of the methodology | https://macleans.ca/education/methodology |
Methodology | Maclean’s puts universities into three categories, recognizing the differences in types of institutions, levels of research funding, diversity of offerings, and breadth and depth of graduate and professional programs. Primarily Undergraduate universities tend to be smaller and have fewer graduate programs and graduate students. Universities in the Comprehensive category have a significant degree of research activity and a wide range of programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including professional degrees. Medical Doctoral universities offer a broad range of Ph.D. programs and research; all universities in this category have medical schools. Canada’s Best Medical Doctoral Universities - https://macleans.ca/education/canadas-best-medical-doctoral-universities-for-2025 Canada’s Best Primarily Undergraduate Universities - https://macleans.ca/education/canadas-best-primarily-undergraduate-universities-for-2025 Canada’s Best Comprehensive Universities - https://macleans.ca/education/canadas-best-comprehensive-universities-for-2025
In each category, Maclean’s ranks institutions in five broad areas based on 12 performance indicators, allocating a weight to each indicator. Figures for the ranked universities include data from their federated and affiliated institutions. The magazine does not rank schools with fewer than 1,000 full-time students, those that are restrictive because of a religious or specialized mission, newly designated universities, or those that are not members of the national association Universities Canada. Maclean’s weights the rankings as follows: STUDENTS – 20%
FACULTY – 20%
RESOURCES – 22%
STUDENT SUPORT – 18%
REPUTATION – 20% Faculty and senior administrators at Canadian universities, as well as a variety of business people across the country, were asked in an online survey to rate Canada’s universities in three categories: Highest Quality, Most Innovative and Leaders of Tomorrow. Best Overall represents the sum of the scores for all three categories. When completing the reputational survey, university faculty and senior administrators also complete a regional component that divides the country into four key regions: the western provinces, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. This allows them to focus on the region they know best. |
Additional information
- Type of publication: internet, print - magazine, newspaper
- Internet users access to ranking: open access
- Main target groups: higher education institutions, students and parents
- Level of comparison: institutional: 49 (three separate lists are published: Canada's Best Primarily Undergraduate Universities - 20 HEIs, Canada's Best Comprehensive Universities -15 HEIs, Canada's Best Medical Doctoral Universities -15 HEIs)
- Major dimensions covered: reputation, research, teaching, student satisfaction, student services
- Structure of presentation: multi-indicator ranking
- Data sources: survey conducted exclusively by ranking organization, third-party database (data not provided by HEI): Statistics Canada, three major federal granting agencies: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), other: information on student and faculty awards from more than 50 organizations
- Quality assurance of ranking: periodic consultancy
- Website of the ranking organization: https://www.macleans.ca
- Types of the ranking organization: commercial/for-profit (incl. media)