{"id":707829,"date":"2026-06-01T13:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/707829\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:15:10","slug":"canadian-universities-fall-in-global-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/707829\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian universities fall in global rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly all Canadian universities lost ground in a global ranking of the top post-secondary schools, reflecting growing pressure from better-funded international competitors.<\/p>\n

The rankings, released Monday by the Center for World University Rankings<\/a>, show 37 of Canada\u2019s 38 ranked universities fell compared to last year, while one maintained its position.<\/p>\n

\"\"University of Toronto-1.2300914 The University of Toronto campus is pictured on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. (The Canadian Press\/Chris Young) <\/p>\n

The University of Toronto remained Canada\u2019s top-ranked institution at No. 23 globally, holding the same position as last year. McGill University slipped one place to No. 28, while the University of British Columbia dropped to No. 49 from No. 48.<\/p>\n

The University of Alberta ranked 82nd globally, followed by the University of Montreal at 126th.<\/p>\n

According to CWUR\u2019s 2026 ranking<\/a>, Canada\u2019s top 10 schools also include: <\/p>\n

6. Western University, No. 187 globally <\/p>\n

7. McMaster University, No. 190 <\/p>\n

8. University of Calgary, No. 203 <\/p>\n

9. University of Waterloo, No. 216 <\/p>\n

10. University of Ottawa, No. 226<\/p>\n

What is behind the decline?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decline of Canadian universities reflects years of inadequate funding, and the devaluation of science and education as public goods,\u201d said Dr. Nadim Mahassen, president of the Center for World University Rankings.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanadian universities are struggling to deliver high-quality education, attract and retain talent, and produce quality research at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahassen said the issue goes beyond academia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just an academic problem but a national one, because the erosion of Canada\u2019s higher education system undermines scientific development, innovation, and the country\u2019s long-term future.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. universities hold up top spots<\/p>\n

The rankings evaluated more than 21,000 universities worldwide using measures that include education quality, employability, faculty achievements and research output.<\/p>\n

\"\"The gates of Harvard Yard at Harvard University, Sept. 30, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa, File) The gates of Harvard Yard at Harvard University, Sept. 30, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa, File) <\/p>\n

Globally, American universities continued to dominate the top of the table. Harvard University held the No. 1 position for the 15th consecutive year, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.<\/p>\n

Based on CWUR\u2019s 2026 ranking<\/a>, the global top five also includes University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, both from the United Kingdom, at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. <\/p>\n

China gains ground globally <\/p>\n

Still, the broader global picture showed increased competition from China. Ninety-eight per cent of Chinese universities improved their positions this year, led by Tsinghua University at No. 36 globally. China now has 360 institutions in the Global 2000 list, the highest representation of any country.<\/p>\n

\"\"Northwestern Polytechnical University A student walks by a building inside the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an city in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (Chinatopix via AP) <\/p>\n

\u201cThe results of this year\u2019s rankings show that the United States boasts the top universities in the world,\u201d Mahassen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, this dominance is increasingly contested further down the league table, as other universities, particularly from China, are catching up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, many institutions across Europe and Japan also declined amid funding pressures and intensified global competition.<\/p>\n

The rankings are based on 81 million outcome-based data points and do not rely on surveys or university-submitted data, according to CWUR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly all Canadian universities lost ground in a global ranking of the top post-secondary schools, reflecting growing pressure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[712,49,48,44],"class_list":["post-707829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}