If you are considering pursuing higher education in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada, and you are wondering which place to choose, you may want to take a look at the latest rankings from the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) site. His team has just published its list of the best universities around the world for 2025. This could pique your interest since you will not need to travel abroad to visit one, or even study there. Four Canadian universities stand out among the top 100, and one of them is even located in Quebec, in the city of Montreal.
The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) site has been analyzing and comparing universities and business schools for almost 20 years, and its methodology is based on exhaustive data collection. Indeed, the 2025 results are based on the analysis of 16.4 million academic articles and the opinions of more than 151,000 university faculty members and employers.
However, some sections are subjective, which often leads to mixed opinions. For example, to evaluate the academic reputation of an establishment, 100,000 experts in the field are consulted through questionnaires, and they must evaluate the excellence of institutions other than their own, in order to reduce the potential biases.
Similarly, for the employer reputation indicator, 50,000 are surveyed in order to find out where the most competent, innovative and effective students come from in the job market.
QS therefore compiles the results of 1,500 institutions spread over 105 locations around the world and ranks them according to several factors. The analyzes are carried out using nine parameters in order to carry out a fair classification, i.e. :
- The academic reputation of the university (30% of the grade)
- Reputation with employers (15% of the score)
- The student/teacher ratio (10% of the grade)
- The number of research citations by faculty (20% of the grade)
- The number of international students (5% of the grade)
- The number of faculty members who come from internationally (5% of the score)
- Sustainability (social and environmental) (5% of the score)
- Job opportunities (5% of the grade)
- The international research network (5% of the grade)
Here are the universities across the country that earned the honors.
University of Toronto — 25th (1st in Canada)
With an overall score of 84.1, the University of Toronto, Ontario ranks first in the country and 25th globally. Although she takes top honors in Canada, it is a drop in the rankings, while she was 21st with 86.3 in 2024.
While it has remained in the top 35 for the last 13 years, the university has made significant progress in 2024, climbing from 34th to 21st position. It then suffered a slight decline.
The great strengths of the University of Toronto are the academic reputation (99.7%), sustainable measures (100%), employment opportunities (98.7%), the ratio of students coming from the international (96.1%) and reputation with employers (96.9%).
McGill University — 29th rank (2nd in Canada – 1st in Quebec)
The English-speaking Montreal University McGill, the only Quebec establishment to appear in the top 150 of the QS ranking, has an overall score of 83. It has moved up one place since 2024, when it was in 30th place, although it has fallen back compared to 2022, when it occupied 27th position.
McGill’s honors points are similar to those at the University of Toronto, although grades are lower. McGill has an excellent academic reputation (94.3%), sustainable measures (99.1%), and very good employment opportunities (98.3%). It is ranked first in the country for its medical program according to the rankings Canada’s Best Medical Doctoral Universities for 2025 de Maclean’s.
University of British Columbia — 38th (3rd in Canada)
Vancouver-based University of British Columbia (UBC) made an impressive jump in the rankings in 2024, ranking 34th, compared to 2023, when it was 47th. According to data for 2025, it loses points, falling to 38th position.
It stands out for its almost perfect score in sustainable measures (99.8%), but also for its impressive academic reputation (98.3%) and its international research network (96.3%).
“UBC is also the first university in North America to commit to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to adopting a human rights-based approach to our strategic framework indigenous,” we can read on the QS website.
University of Alberta — 96th (4th in Canada)
With an overall score of 61.2, the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, joined the top 100 for 2025, while it occupied 111th place in 2024. Its last presence in this prestigious ranking dated from 2018, where the university had risen to 90th position.
It is considered the best public university in Edmonton. Its international research network is one of its greatest strengths in this ranking (96%), as is its number of faculty members who come from internationally (98.3%).
A significant drop for the University of Montreal
In 2024, the University of Montreal (UdeM) was the only French-speaking Canadian university to be ranked in the top 150 in the world. Unfortunately, she does not obtain this honor in 2025: she is in 159th position.
In recent years, its rating has dropped drastically in the rankings, going from 116th position in 2023 and 111th in 2022 to 141st in 2024, and finally 159th in 2025.
It obtains a low score of 32.8% in the “employer reputation” section, which considerably impacts its overall positioning, since this criterion represents 15% of the total. Since this section is based on surveys of employers around the world, it is possible that French-speaking universities are at a disadvantage.
With a score of 51.3, the institution including the Polytechnique de Montréal and the HEC management school is recognized as one of the most important research centers in the country. It receives up to $680 million in research funding annually.
Other Quebec universities in the top 500
- Concordia University (Montreal) – 415th position – Score of 28.7
- Laval University (Quebec) 423rd position – Score of 28.1
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