Maclean's Overhauls University Rankings with Focus on Student Success

Maclean's has released its 2027 Canadian University Rankings, introducing a significant shift in how institutions are categorized and evaluated, according to reporting from BlogTO.

Moving away from previous classifications such as medical doctoral and primarily undergraduate, the publication now groups universities by full-time enrollment size. The new categories include large institutions (over 30,000 students), mid-size (10,000 to 30,000 students), and small (fewer than 10,000 students). Claire Gagné, director of special projects for Maclean's, stated that the traditional categories were not always easy for families and students to understand, prompting a review of global ranking systems.

To refine the assessment, Maclean's introduced four new performance indicators: research impact, research output per faculty member, student retention rates, and the percentage of students graduating within six years. These join 11 other metrics for a total of 15 indicators focusing on faculty quality, reputation, student experience, and support resources. The rankings rely on the most recent public data provided by universities and their affiliated or federated institutions.

Among the top results, McGill University was ranked as the best large university, Simon Fraser University as the best mid-size, and Mount Allison University as the best small university. Within Ontario, the University of Toronto placed second in the large category, while the University of Waterloo and Queen's University followed at fourth and fifth, respectively. In the mid-size category, Carleton University and the University of Guelph ranked fourth and fifth nationwide.