Montreal and Toronto have never needed much of an excuse to compete.
There’s the decades-old Habs-Leafs rivalry, of course, and the never-ending debate over which city has the better nightlife (we all know the answer). But one of the more surprising battlegrounds between the two cities is academic, with McGill University and the University of Toronto going head to head in just about every university ranking that comes out.
And lately, U of T has been winning most of those matchups.
Just a few weeks ago, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 placed U of T 22nd in the world, with McGill trailing in 43rd. Earlier this year, CourseCompare named U of T Canada’s best university for the second year in a row, with McGill in second place. And in TIME and Statista’s 2026 world ranking, the gap was even wider, with U of T at 24th and McGill all the way down at 154th.
But this week, McGill got a win.
Maclean’s recently released its rankings of Canada’s best large universities for 2027, and McGill University took the No. 1 spot, edging out the University of Toronto, which came in second.
The University of British Columbia rounded out the top three.
Four Quebec schools made the list in total, and three of them are right here in Montreal.
How the rankings work
Maclean’s ranks schools with more than 30,000 students in its large university category. Universities are scored across 14 different areas, including student awards, retention and graduation rates, student/faculty ratio, research grants, operating budget, library spending, scholarships and bursaries, and student services.
A reputational survey of faculty members and hiring managers, conducted by the Angus Reid Group, also factors in.
Where McGill came out on top
The Montreal university ranked first in five of the categories: student awards, retention rate, graduation rate, student/faculty ratio and library acquisitions. It also placed second for faculty awards, research impact, library expenses and scholarships and bursaries.
One category where McGill didn’t shine? Student services, where it was tied for 13th place out of 15 schools.
U of T, for its part, came out ahead of McGill in a few big areas. It ranked first in faculty awards, research volume and the reputational survey, where McGill placed third.
According to Maclean’s, McGill’s faculty and graduates have won 10 Nobel Prizes, and the school has produced more Rhodes Scholars and Nobel laureates than any other Canadian university. The magazine also pointed to its location between Mount Royal Park and downtown Montreal, as well as off-campus rent that’s generally cheaper than in other major Canadian cities.
There’s another reason students might be drawn to McGill over U of T: the price tag. Tuition at McGill, including compulsory fees, comes in at $5,480 for Quebec students and $15,153.17 for students from other provinces. At U of T, it’s $8,140, or $9,290 for out-of-province students.
How Montreal’s other universities did
McGill wasn’t the only Montreal school on the list.
Université de Montréal landed in 12th place overall, but it ranked first in the country for social sciences and humanities grants. It also placed fifth for its student/faculty ratio.
Concordia University finished 15th, but it ranked fourth in the country for research impact. It’s also the most affordable school on the list for Quebec students, with tuition of $3,026.
Quebec City’s Université Laval, the province’s other entry, came in 11th.
Canada’s best large universities for 2027
Here’s the full list:
- McGill University
- University of Toronto
- University of British Columbia
- University of Waterloo
- Queen’s University
- University of Alberta
- McMaster University
- University of Ottawa
- University of Calgary
- Western University
- Université Laval
- Université de Montréal
- York University
- Toronto Metropolitan University
- Concordia University
You can see the full rankings and school profiles on Maclean’s website.
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