For years, students looking to pursue a post-secondary education in Canada have relied on Maclean’s University Rankings to help make their decision about where to study a little easier.
Earlier this week we took a look at the top schools by reputation. Today we’ll explore:
- Top medical doctoral schools
- Top comprehensive schools
- Top primarily undergraduate schools
- Top schools by student satisfaction
ApplyBoard Partner Schools
Maclean’s Top Universities by Student Satisfaction, Top Medical Doctoral, Top Comprehensive Schools, and Top Primarily Undergraduate Schools lists include an incredible 26 Canadian ApplyBoard partner schools! We consider ourselves fortunate to work with each of our partner schools on our shared mission to educate the world.
*Denotes a tie
- Acadia University (Primarily Undergraduate 5, Primarily Undergraduate 6)
- Brandon University (Primarily Undergraduate 18, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 15)
- Bishop’s University (Primarily Undergraduate 12, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 13)
- Brock University (Comprehensive 5, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 6)
- Cape Breton University (Primarily Undergraduate 19, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 12)
- Carleton University (Comprehensive 5, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 6)
- Lakehead University (Primarily Undergraduate 8, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 18)
- Laurentian University (Primarily Undergraduate 15, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 19)
- Mount Allison University (Primarily Undergraduate 2, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 11)
- Memorial University of Newfoundland (Comprehensive 8, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 14)
- Mount Saint Vincent University (Primarily Undergraduate 17, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 17)
- Nipissing University (Primarily Undergraduate 16, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 5)
- Ontario Tech University (Primarily Undergraduate *9, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 8)
- Ryerson University (Comprehensive 8, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 14)
- St. Thomas University (Primarily Undergraduate 13, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 7)
- Trent University (Primarily Undergraduate 3, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 2)
- University of Guelph (Comprehensive 4, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 7)
- University of Lethbridge (Primarily Undergraduate 6, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 9)
- University of Ottawa (Medical Doctoral 4, Student Satisfaction–Medical Doctoral 15)
- University of Prince Edward Island (Primarily Undergraduate 7, Student Satisfaction–Primarily Undergraduate 16)
- University of Regina (Comprehensive 12, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 15)
- University of Saskatchewan (Medical Doctoral 15, Student Satisfaction–Medical Doctoral)
- University of Waterloo (Best Comprehensive 3, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 5)
- University of Windsor (Comprehensive 14, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 12)
- Western University (Medical Doctoral *9, Student Satisfaction–Medical Doctoral 3)
- Wilfrid Laurier University (Comprehensive 7, Student Satisfaction–Comprehensive 4)
Canada’s Best Medical Doctoral Schools 2022
Maclean’s defines a medical doctoral school as a university with “a broad range of Ph.D. programs and research, as well as medical schools.”
| Overall Ranking | University | Rank Last Year | Student Awards | Student/Faculty Ratio | Faculty Awards | Total Research Dollars | Scholarships & Bursaries | Students Services |
| 1 | McGill University | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | *13 |
| 2 | University of Toronto | 2 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | University of British Columbia | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 12 | *9 |
| 4 | McMaster University | 4 | *9 | 15 | 4 | 2 | *14 | 1 |
| 5 | Queen’s University | 5 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 8 | *7 |
| 6 | University of Alberta | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | *7 |
| 7 | University of Ottawa | *8 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | Dalhousie University | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 3 | *9 |
| *9 | Laval University | *11 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 10 | *11 |
| *9 | Université de Montréal | *11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 11 | *13 |
| *9 | Western University | *11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 11 | *13 |
| 12 | University of Calgary | *8 | *9 | 5 | *13 | 6 | 5 | *11 |
| 13 | Université de Sherbrooke | 13 | 13 | 1 | 15 | 12 | *14 | 5 |
| 14 | University of Manitoba | *14 | 14 | 7 | *13 | 15 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | University of Saskatchewan | *14 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 15 |
Canada’s Best Comprehensive Schools 2022
A comprehensive school is a university with a “significant amount of research activity and a wide range of programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, including professional degrees.”
| Overall Ranking | University | Rank Last Year | Student Awards | Student/Faculty Ratio | Faculty Awards | Total Research Dollars | Scholarships & Bursaries | Students Services |
| *1 | Simon Fraser University | 1 | 1 | 3 | *2 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| *1 | University of Victoria | *2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | University of Waterloo | *2 | 2 | 7 | *2 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
| 4 | University of Guelph | 4 | *8 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Carleton University | 5 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | York University | *6 | *8 | 14 | *5 | 10 | 2 | 9 |
| 7 | Wilfrid Laurier University | 8 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 4 |
| 8 | Memorial University of Newfoundland | 9 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 13 |
| *9 | University of New Brunswick | *6 | 5 | 1 | *13 | 7 | 13 | 11 |
| *9 | Université du Québec à Montréal | *10 | 6 | 6 | *5 | 9 | 14 | 15 |
| 11 | Ryerson University | 12 | 14 | 13 | *13 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| 12 | Brock University | 13 | 13 | *10 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 7 |
| 13 | Concordia University | *10 | *8 | *10 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 14 |
| 14 | University of Windsor | 14 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 3 |
| 15 | University of Regina | 15 | 15 | 4 | *13 | 11 | 8 | 8 |
Canada’s Best Primarily Undergraduate Schools 2022
The third type of institution, primarily undergraduate, is a university “largely focused on undergraduate education, with relatively fewer graduate programs and graduate students.”
| Overall Ranking | University | Rank Last Year | Student Awards | Student/Faculty Ratio | Faculty Awards | Total Research Dollars | Scholarships & Bursaries | Students Services |
| 1 | University of Northern British Columbia | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 |
| 2 | Mount Allison University | 1 | *2 | 3 | *9 | 13 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | Trent University | *8 | *6 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Saint Mary’s University | 4 | *2 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 6 | *10 |
| 5 | Acadia University | 3 | *6 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | University of Lethbridge | 2 | 5 | 10 | *13 | 5 | 17 | 8 |
| 7 | University of Prince Edward Island | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | *4 | 19 |
| 8 | Lakehead University | *8 | *6 | 15 | 3 | 4 | *4 | *10 |
| *9 | Ontario Tech University | 11 | *13 | 18 | *15 | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| *9 | St. Francis Xavier University | 6 | *10 | 11 | *13 | 14 | 12 | 15 |
| 11 | Université de Moncton | 13 | *6 | 1 | *11 | 11 | 11 | 18 |
| 12 | Bishop’s University | 7 | 12 | 16 | 7 | 16 | 13 | 2 |
| 13 | St. Thomas University | 14 | *16 | 6 | *15 | 19 | 3 | 4 |
| 14 | The University of Winnipeg | 16 | 15 | 17 | *15 | 7 | 18 | 13 |
| 15 | Laurentian University | 12 | *10 | 9 | 4 | 1 | *14 | 17 |
| 16 | Nipissing University | 15 | *16 | 13 | *11 | 18 | 9 | 1 |
| 17 | Mount Saint Vincent University | 18 | *13 | 12 | *9 | 15 | *14 | 16 |
| 18 | Brandon University | 17 | *18 | *7 | *15 | 17 | 16 | 5 |
| 19 | Cape Breton University | 19 | *18 | *7 | *15 | 10 | 19 | 12 |
Canada’s Top Universities by Student Satisfaction 2022
To determine the Top Universities by Student Satisfaction, Maclean’s surveyed more than 19,000 students across Canada on a variety of questions, including:
- Professors and staff
- Residence life
- Extracurricular activities
- Experiential education, e.g., co-op
- Mental health services
- On-campus sexual assault prevention
- Indigenous histories, cultures, and languages visibility
Maclean’s ranks the best universities by student satisfaction across the three categories of institutions previously defined: medical doctoral, comprehensive, and primarily undergraduate.
Medical Doctoral
| Overall Ranking | University |
| 1 |
Université de Sherbrooke
|
| 2 | Laval University |
| 3 |
Western University
|
| 4 |
Queen’s University
|
| 5 |
Université de Montréal
|
| 6 |
McGill University
|
| 7 |
McMaster University
|
| 8 |
University of Manitoba
|
| 9 |
University of Saskatchewan
|
| 10 |
Dalhousie University
|
| 11 |
The University of British Columbia
|
| 12 |
University of Alberta
|
| 13 |
University of Toronto
|
| 14 |
University of Calgary
|
| 15 |
University of Ottawa
|
Comprehensive
| Overall Ranking | University |
| 1 | Université du Québec à Montréal |
| 2 | University of Victoria |
| 3 | Brock University |
| 4 | Wilfrid Laurier University |
| 5 | University of Waterloo |
| 6 | Carleton University |
| 7 | University of Guelph |
| 8 | University of New Brunswick |
| 9 | Ryerson University |
| 10 | Concordia University |
| 11 | Simon Fraser University |
| 12 | University of Windsor |
| 13 | York University |
| 14 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland
|
| 15 | University of Regina |
Primarily Undergraduate
| Overall Ranking | University |
| 1 | St. Francis Xavier University |
| 2 | Trent University |
| 3 | Université de Moncton |
| 4 |
University of Northern British Columbia
|
| 5 | Nipissing University |
| 6 | Acadia University |
| 7 | St. Thomas University |
| 8 | Ontario Tech University |
| 9 | University of Lethbridge |
| 10 | The University of Winnipeg |
| 11 | Mount Allison University |
| 12 | Cape Breton University |
| 13 | Bishop’s University |
| 14 | Saint Mary’s University |
| 15 | Brandon University |
| 16 |
University of Prince Edward Island
|
| 17 | Mount Saint Vincent University |
| 18 | Lakehead University |
| 19 | Laurentian University |
Join us tomorrow for the final installment of the Maclean’s University Rankings 2022 as we explore top schools by program, including biology, computer science, education, engineering, and nursing!
Ready to start your study abroad journey in Canada? Explore top schools on ApplyBoard.
