University of Toronto once again ranks among the top schools in the world

Several universities in Canada have ranked among the top 50 best academic institutions in the world.

Times Higher Education (THE) released its World University Rankings for 2026 on Wednesday. The list ranked 2,191 institutions from 115 countries and territories, including 34 universities in Canada.

Of those 34 schools, only three universities in Canada ranked within the top 50.

The University of Toronto ranked the highest among Canadian institutions, placing 21st, just below Columbia University.

THE evaluated universities based on five key factors: teaching (the learning environment), research environment (volume, income, and reputation), research quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence and research influence), international outlook (staff, students and research), and industry (income and patents).

U of T received an overall score of 88.5, scoring the highest under the industry category with 95.8.

McGill University tied for 41st place with three other schools, including The Chinese University of Hong Kong. McGill received an overall score of 77.1. Its international outlook contributed to its top 50 ranking, with a score of 89.2.

Following closely behind is the University of British Columbia, with an overall score of 77, ranking 45th. It scored highly in research quality (88.6) and international outlook (93.5).

Other universities in Canada that made the list include McMaster (116), University of Alberta (119), and University of Waterloo (162).

According to the report, Oxford retained the number one spot for the tenth consecutive year, driven by a strong research environment score of 100.

"Princeton rises to a joint third place, and is the only U.S. university to achieve its best-ever finish this year," reads the ranking.

The report added that India now has the second-highest number of ranked universities for the first time, behind only the U.S.

U of T, UBC, and McGill are usually the top three universities in Canada vying for high rankings in this list.

They ranked highly in another prestigious list released earlier this year, which considered more than 2,500 institutions, including 28 universities in Canada.