4 Canadian cities made it to a brand new international rating of greatest locations for worldwide college students.
Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa have been all listed in international increased training specialists Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) Finest Pupil Cities 2026 high 100 rating.
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The cities and their rankings will be discovered beneath:
| Canadian Metropolis | QS Finest Pupil Cities 2026 Rating |
| Montreal | |
| Toronto | 22 |
| Vancouver | |
| Ottawa |
Montreal
The most important metropolis in Quebec has constantly been rating as Canada’s top-performing metropolis on QS’s international Finest Pupil Cities listing.
This 12 months it ranked extremely amongst Pupil View (94.4) and Pupil Combine (91.5) classes.
Whereas it was additionally positively considered for its Employer Exercise (80) and Desirability (74.8), its Affordability stage fell to 30.5, its lowest by far, in comparison with different classes.
Montreal is residence to McGill College, which was the highest Canadian college within the 2026 QS World College Rankings. It was within the twenty seventh place globally.
Montreal ranked tenth place within the QS Finest Pupil Cities 2025 listing, making this a marked decline as in comparison with earlier years.
Toronto
Canada’s largest metropolis ranked twenty second within the QS Finest Pupil Cities 2026 listing.
Toronto excelled in Pupil View (93.1), Pupil Combine (91.8) and in addition did nicely in Employer Exercise (85.6), and Desirability (82.4) classes too.
Like Montreal, it scored low on Affordability (17.4).
Toronto options a lot of top-notch academic establishments. College of Toronto was the second highest Canadian college within the QS World College Rating for 2026, coming within the twenty ninth place globally. York College, additionally in Toronto, ranked within the 333rd place.
Toronto held the eleventh place within the QS Finest Pupil Cities 2025 listing, additionally marking an enormous decline this 12 months.
Vancouver
The bustling metropolis in British Columbia ranked extremely in Pupil Combine (91.8).
Whereas it additionally fared nicely in different classes like Pupil View, Employer Exercise, and Desirability, its rating in Affordability (16.9) introduced its total rating down.
Vancouver usually ranks as Canada’s most costly metropolis. In keeping with shifting firm MovingWaldo, the price of dwelling in Vancouver is $3,793.63 per 30 days in 2025.
Vancouver is residence to College of British Columbia, which was the third highest ranked Canadian college within the QS World College rankings, coming within the fortieth place globally.
Simon Fraser College, which was listed within the 308th place, can also be positioned in Vancouver.
Ottawa
The capital of Canada additionally made the listing, rating nicely in Pupil View (80.3), Pupil Combine (82.3) and Desirability (73.6).
Nonetheless, its scores in Employer Exercise (35.6) and Affordability (22.1) and Rankings (27.4) pulled the general rating down.
The College of Ottawa ranked within the 218th place within the QS World College Rating 2026.
General Rating
In whole, most North American cities have seen a decline within the QS Finest Pupil Metropolis rankings, as in comparison with the earlier 12 months.
Canadian cities have seen drops in Pupil Combine and Desirability classes, though QS factors out that declines in the USA have been extra extreme in these indicators.
Methodology
The QS Finest Pupil Cities evaluates cities throughout six key classes:
College rankings: Considers the variety of universities a metropolis has which might be featured within the QS World College Rankings, in addition to how these establishments carried out in the newest version of the rankings.
Pupil combine: The class measures the proportion of scholars within the metropolis’s inhabitants, the variety of worldwide college students enrolled, and the general inclusivity of the town and its nation.
Desirability: Metropolis security, air pollution ranges, and pupil survey responses indicating curiosity in learning there.
Employer exercise: This class assesses youth employment charges within the metropolis and employer perceptions of native college graduates.
Affordability: This appears to be like at tuition and value of dwelling within the metropolis.
Pupil view: This captures how college students ranked the town primarily based on its friendliness, sustainability, variety, and the proportion that needs to proceed dwelling there after commencement.
To be eligible for inclusion, a metropolis should have a inhabitants exceeding 250,000 and host no less than two universities featured within the newest QS World College Rankings.
Finding out in Canada
There are a lot of advantages to pursuing increased training in Canada, together with its top-notch universities.
For those who’re fascinated by pursuing training in Canada as a world pupil, there are some issues to bear in mind:
- Solely Designated Studying Establishments (DLIs) are permitted to confess worldwide college students, so it’s necessary to pick a program from the federal authorities’s permitted listing.
- When you apply and acquire admission to your chosen establishment, you’ll obtain a Letter of Acceptance. This doc, together with others like proof of monetary assist, is critical when making use of for a examine allow.
- You will want to point out proof of monetary assist. The quantity of funds required adjustments in keeping with the dimensions of your loved ones. Beginning September 1, 2025, it’s $22,895 for a household of 1.
- Different paperwork it’s essential purchase embrace the Provincial Attestation Letter or Territorial Attestation Letter. You might also want to supply biometrics, endure a medical examination, or present police certificates.
- There have been quite a few adjustments to submit commencement work allow (PGWP) and spousal open work allow (SOWP) eligibility over 2024 and 2025. Make sure to keep up-to-date with the newest eligibility standards, if these elements are necessary to you.
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