University Rankings in Canada
Additional Rankings & Profiles
- Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities (NTU Ranking)
- Maclean's school profile on the University of Alberta
- ARTICLE: The choice of universities in Alberta (Globe and Mail)
- Alberta School of Business Ranking & Reputation
- Faculty of Science Rankings
Top 5 in University Rankings in Canada
- Academic Ranking of World Universities - #5
- Center for World University Rankings - #4
- Quacquarelli Symonds - #5
- Times Higher Education - #6
Top 150 in World University Rankings
- Academic Ranking of World Universities - # 101-150
- Center for World University Rankings - #96
- Quacquarelli Symonds - #119
- Times Higher Education - #136
Latest University Rankings News
U of A ranked among world’s top energy research universities
University of Alberta lands in top 50 in three energy-related subjects—including eighth in petroleum engineering—in updated QS rankings.
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Top U of A subjects rise in new ranking of world’s best
March 04, 2020
Sports-related fields, mining engineering and nursing lead strong showing in latest QS subject rankings.
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U of A among Canada's top 5 universities in latest Maclean's ranking
October 08, 2019
Nursing, business and science stand out in new ranking of top medical-doctoral universities.
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U of A grads among most employable in Canada, according to new QS rankings
September 19, 2019
University ranks second in graduate employment rate and employer-student connections.
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Environmental research boosts U of A standing in latest Shanghai rankings
August 01, 2019
Engineering, MBA, agriculture, earth science and nursing programs among standouts in new subject rankings.
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U of A among world's top 90 in research output and impact
June 19, 2019
Agriculture, medicine and social sciences lead strong performance in latest NTU global research ranking.
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U of A holds strong amid tougher global competition in latest QS rankings
June 19, 2019
University remains fourth in Canada and 37th in North America, bolstered by low faculty-to-student ratio and high citations per faculty.
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Sports subjects, mining engineering and nursing lead U of A programs among world's best
February 27, 2019
University maintains strong showing with seven programs rated among world's top 50 in latest QS subject rankings.
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U of A nursing and education programs land near top of Maclean's university rankings
October 11, 2018
Science, engineering and business programs also make top five in latest rankings of Canadian universities.
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U of A ranked among world's top 50 in eight subjects
July 30, 2018
Engineering, MBA programs lead list of subjects rated among world's best in 2018 Shanghai rankings.
- More
Among the best universities in Canada...
UAlberta is a Top 5 Canadian university, home to more than 500 graduate programs, 200 undergraduate programs and 450 active student groups.
...and one of the best in the world!
UAlberta is globally connected through nearly 400 teaching and research partnerships in 50 countries and is one of the Top 150 universities in the world.
Top Programs at a Glance
UAlberta Program |
Global Rank |
Ranking Body |
Paleontology | #3 | CWUR |
Forestry | #5 | CWUR |
Geology | #5 | CWUR |
Petroleum Engineering | #5 | CWUR |
Transplantation | #6 | CWUR |
Sports-related | #7 | QS |
Canadian University Rankings 2020-21
University |
Rank |
Ranking Body |
University of Toronto | #24 | CWUR |
McGill University | #27 | CWUR |
University of British Columbia | #48 | CWUR |
University of Alberta | #101 | CWUR |
Université de Montréal | #113 | CWUR |
McMaster University | #160 | CWUR |
Ranking Criteria & Ranking Bodies
- Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranks universities by several indicators of academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.
- Quality of Education - Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals [10%]
- Quality of Faculty - Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals and Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories [40%]
- Research Output - Papers published in Nature and Science* and Papers indexed in Science Citation Index-expanded and Social Science Citation Index [40%]
- Per Capita Performance - Per capita academic performance of an institution [10%]
Find a more detailed breakdown of the ARWU ranking methodology here.
- Center for World University Rankings (CWUR)
The Center for World University Rankings uses eight objective and robust indicators to rank the world's top 1000 universities:
- Quality of Education, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major international awards, prizes, and medals relative to the university's size [25%]
- Alumni Employment, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held CEO positions at the world's top companies relative to the university's size [25%]
- Quality of Faculty, measured by the number of academics who have won major international awards, prizes, and medals [25%]
- Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in reputable journals [5%]
- Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals [5%]
- Citations, measured by the number of highly-cited research papers [5%]
- Broad Impact, measured by the university's h-index [5%]
- Patents, measured by the number of international patent filings [5%]
- Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)
Published annually since 2011, the QS World University Rankings by Subject highlights the world's top-performing institutions in a broad spectrum of individual academic areas. The rankings aim to help prospective students identify leading universities in their chosen field of study.
For its subject-area rankings, QS ranks universities based on:
- academic reputation,
- employer reputation,
- academic citations and
- research impact.
- Times Higher Education (THE)
Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings list the best global universities and are the only international university performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. Performance indicators are grouped into five areas:
- Teaching (the learning environment)
- Research (volume, income and reputation)
- Citations (research influence)
- International outlook (staff, students and research)
- Industry income (knowledge transfer).