McGill slips to 43rd globally in Times Higher Education rankings but holds Canada's #2 spot

McGill University slipped to 43rd in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027, down from joint 41st last year, though the school's overall score ticked upward slightly. The rankings, released September 30, covered a record 2,297 schools from 118 countries and territories.

McGill scored 77.7 overall, just 0.1 points ahead of the University of British Columbia at 44th (77.6)—the same margin separating Oxford and MIT at the top of the global list, which Times Higher Education said is the slimmest gap ever between first and second place. Despite the drop in standing, McGill retained first place in Canada in the QS World University Rankings 2027, though other rankings told a different story: the Shanghai Ranking placed McGill 73rd over the summer, while the NTU Rankings had it at 53rd.

University of Toronto ranks 22nd globally and remains Canada's top school in the Times Higher Education standings, down one spot from last year. Among Canada's top 10, McMaster placed joint 116th, University of Alberta joint 118th, Université de Montréal 132nd, University of Waterloo 178th, University of Calgary joint 185th, University of Ottawa joint 185th, and Western University joint 212th.

Québec schools showed mixed results. Université de Montréal posted the strongest gain, jumping 18 spots from 150th to 132nd. Université Laval made a significant leap from the 401–500 range to 301–325. Times Higher Education changed its methodology this year, with individual ranks now extending to 300th and smaller bands thereafter, making year-over-year comparisons for lower-ranked schools less direct.

At the global level, Oxford claimed first place for the 11th consecutive year. The U.S. took seven of the top 10 spots; the U.K. took three. China's Tsinghua University rose to 11th, making it the highest-ranked Asian school and outranking the top continental European institution for the first time.