#WorkWearFashion: How to Look Stylish to Work | Issue 161

McGill finally beat U of T in a new world university ranking — But it’s complicated

<img src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/the-arts-building-of-mcgill-university-in-montreal.jpg?id=61081483&width=1200&height=800&coordinates=97%2C0%2C98%2C0"/><br/><br/><p><a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/mcgill-university" target="_blank">McGill University</a> just earned a major academic win.</p><p>According to the newly released <a href="https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings" target="_blank">2026 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings</a>, McGill has officially been named the best university in Canada — overtaking the University of Toronto, which has long held the top national spot in global rankings.</p><p>QS ranked McGill 27th in the world, placing it two spots ahead of the University of Toronto at #29 and well above the University of British Columbia at #40. The list evaluated over 1,500 institutions across more than 100 countries, taking into account research strength, academic reputation, graduate employability, global engagement, sustainability, and student experience.</p><p>Here are the top 10 universities in the world, according to QS:</p><ol><li>MIT</li><li> Imperial College London</li><li> Stanford University</li><li> University of Oxford</li><li> Harvard University</li><li> University of Cambridge</li><li> ETH Zurich</li><li> National University of Singapore</li><li> UCL</li><li> California Institute of Technology</li></ol><p>Plenty of other Canadian universities were ranked too, including Université de Montréal and Concordia University. Here's where some of Canada's other universities landed on the 2026 QS World University Rankings:</p><p>University of Alberta — 94th<br/> University of Waterloo — 119th<br/> Western University — 151st<br/> Université de Montréal — 168th<br/> McMaster University — 173rd<br/> Queen’s University — 191st<br/> University of Calgary — 211th<br/> University of Ottawa — 219th<br/> Dalhousie University — 283rd<br/> Simon Fraser University — 308th<br/> York University — 333rd<br/> University of Victoria — 358th<br/> University of Saskatchewan — 378th<br/> Concordia University — 465th<br/> Université Laval — 469th<br/> University of Guelph — 504th<br/> University of Windsor — 546th<br/> University of New Brunswick — 622nd<br/> University of Manitoba — 643rd<br/> Memorial University of Newfoundland — 660th</p><p>It's a notable win for Montreal’s most prestigious school, which boast an impressive overall score of 88.9, especially given <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/mcgill-university-ranking" target="_blank">U of T's usual dominance in recent rankings</a>.</p><p>However, this new title comes just days after a different global ranking told another story. Earlier this week, <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/mcgill-university-ranking-2025-global" target="_blank">U.S. News & World Report </a>placed McGill at #62 in the world, behind U of T (#16) and UBC (#41) in its 2025–2026 Best Global Universities list. That ranking leans heavily on research output and publication data, while QS uses broader criteria like sustainability and learning experience.</p><p>So is McGill truly Canada's best university? That depends on who you ask. But one thing's clear — Montreal's top school is back in the spotlight.</p><p><em>Love this? Check out our <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/notices/" target="_blank">MTL Blog noticeboard</a> for details on jobs, benefits, travel info and more!</em></p><p><em>AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of MTL Blog's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/editorial-standards" target="_blank">Editorial Standards page</a>.</em></p>