2 Montreal Universities Ranked Top 10 In Canada For Natural & Health Sciences

The best schools in Canada were ranked by subject and two Montreal universities managed to secure top 10 spots for all sciences.

The ranking was published by the Nature Index, part of the publishing conglomerate Springer's Nature Portfolio, which is a publisher of largely academic research, reviews, critical comments, news and analysis. The Index essentially tracks contributions to research articles published in certain natural science and health science journals that are chosen based on reputation by an independent group of researchers.

The Nature Index ranked the top institutions around the world by sector (academic, government, corporate, healthcare and NPO/NGO) and by subject (biological sciences, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, health science and physical sciences). In order to determine where each academic institution ranks, the Nature Index looked at the research outputs of these universities across the globe from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023.

The Nature Index uses article count (which they shorten to "count") and fractional count (called "share") to track research output. A country and/or region or an institution is given a count of one for each article that has at least one author from that country/region or institution.

The Index ranked a total of 77 Canadian universities and when it comes to the best universities in Canada both McGill University and the Université de Montreal ranked in the top 10 for all sciences (natural and health sciences).

Although the University of Toronto took the number one spot nationally , McGill University followed immediately after, ranking second overall. The Montreal school excelled most in biological sciences, with a total count of 254 and a share score of almost 83. McGill also performed well with research in chemistry (73 count), earth and environmental sciences (93 count), health sciences (189 count), and physical sciences (102 count).

Despite showing a steady increase in overall share per year between 2018 and 2022, McGill's Share score dipped from nearly 184 in 2022 to just shy of 175 in 2023.

The Université de Montréal (UdeM) snagged the seventh spot, beating McMaster University, Western University, and the University of Waterloo, all of whom made up the remainder of the top 10.

UdeM performed well in both health sciences and biological sciences, with a total count of 157 and 140, respectively. The Montreal school also excelled in physical sciences, with a count of 59 and a share score of nearly 9.8.

Although McGill's overall share score decreased in 2023, the Université de Montréal saw a subtle increase. The institution saw a staggering 0.21 uptick after going from 59.95 in 2022 to a share score of 60.16 in 2023. A win is a win, right?

Of the 77 schools included in the ranking, three other Montreal institutions managed to make the cut. Concordia University landed 19th overall, with a share score of 16.86, while the Université du Québec à Montréal landed 24th with an overall count of 72 and a share score of nearly 10.6.

Polytechnique Montréal was the final Montreal university to make the ranking, landing 26th overall. The engineering school, which is affiliated with the Université de Montréal, received a count score of 37 and a share score of 10.04.

Wondering which other Canadian schools made the ranking? Here's the complete top 10 of the best universities in Canada for natural and health sciences:

1. University of Toronto (U of T)
2. McGill University
3. The University of British Columbia (UBC)
4. University of Alberta
5. University of Calgary
6. University of Ottawa
7. Université de Montréal (UdeM)
8. McMaster University
9. Western University
10. University of Waterloo