McGill fell behind in a new global university ranking — And 2 Canadian rivals crushed it

McGill University is often hailed as one of Canada's academic heavyweights, but on a new global ranking of top universities, the Montreal institution found itself a little further down the list than many might expect.

U.S. News & World Report just released its 2025–2026 Best Global Universities ranking, which evaluated 2,250 schools across 105 countries. The annual report looks at 13 performance indicators — including research output, international collaboration, global reputation, and publication influence — to highlight top-performing institutions around the world.

According to the ranking, McGill came in at #62 globally, making it the third-highest ranked university in Canada. While that's still an impressive showing, it places the Montreal school well behind a couple of its Canadian peers.

The University of Toronto landed at #16, cracking the global top 20, while the University of British Columbia came in at #41. Both outpaced McGill by a noticeable margin, especially when it comes to international research strength and global academic reputation.

McGill did, however, post solid rankings in several specialized areas. It scored especially high in neuroscience and behaviour (#16), public, environmental and occupational health (#45), radiology and medical imaging (#23), and psychiatry/psychology (#36). It also placed within the top 100 worldwide in fields like clinical medicine, ecology, and genetics.

Other programs, however, saw the school land further down the list — including economics and business (#207), education (#77), and computer science (#140). McGill's overall score was 74.3 out of 100, according to U.S. News.

The Best Global Universities ranking is designed primarily for students considering international study, offering a broad look at how schools compare on the world stage, beyond national rankings or undergrad experience. It's worth noting that these rankings focus on research and academic impact, not things like campus life or tuition costs.

You can browse the full 2025–2026 report on U.S. News' website.

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