(Photo courtesy of Wayne Eardley/Trent University)
Education
Canada’s Best Universities 2023: Average Class Size
Maclean’s tracks undergraduate class sizes, which can vary significantly and impact students’ learning experience
These average class size figures are for undergraduate classes in the fall of 2019. Maclean’s did not ask universities to report class sizes during the COVID-19 pandemic because the shift to online learning and capacity restrictions disrupted the normal delivery of classes. These numbers reflect primary classes; subsections such as labs, tutorials and practicums are not included.*
First and Second Year
 University | Avg. Size |
|---|---|
| Moncton | 23.8 |
| St. Thomas | 28.6 |
| Mount Saint Vincent | 29.2 |
| Sherbrooke | 31.7 |
| Brandon | 32.8 |
| Lakehead | 34.5 |
| Laurentian | 34.9 |
| Nipissing | 35.6 |
| Cape Breton | 38.0 |
| Winnipeg | 38.4 |
| Acadia | 38.7 |
| New Brunswick | 39.1 |
| St. Francis Xavier | 39.4 |
| UQAM | 39.7 |
| Bishop's | 40.0 |
| Regina | 40.0 |
| Laval | 40.1 |
| UPEI | 40.9 |
| UNBC | 41.1 |
| Mount Allison | 44.3 |
| Memorial | 44.8 |
| Lethbridge | 46.1 |
| Saint Mary's | 49.8 |
| Concordia | 57.4 |
| Alberta | 59.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 62.5 |
| Victoria | 65.0 |
| McGill | 65.5 |
| Manitoba | 69.7 |
| Windsor | 71.0 |
| Dalhousie | 73.5 |
| Trent | 79.3 |
| Simon Fraser | 82.2 |
| Queen's | 84.9 |
| Calgary | 86.8 |
| UBC | 86.9 |
| York | 90.6 |
| Carleton | 91.8 |
| Brock | 93.8 |
| Wilfrid Laurier | 93.8 |
| Western | 105.3 |
| McMaster | 127.8 |
Third and Fourth Year
| University | Avg. Size |
|---|---|
| Mount Allison | 11.4 |
| Moncton | 13.6 |
| Brandon | 14.5 |
| Acadia | 17.0 |
| Mount Saint Vincent | 17.4 |
| St. Thomas | 17.4 |
| Laurentian | 18.0 |
| UPEI | 18.2 |
| Winnipeg | 19.2 |
| UNBC | 19.3 |
| Queen's | 19.8 |
| Bishop's | 20.3 |
| Nipissing | 21.0 |
| Regina | 22.0 |
| New Brunswick | 22.2 |
| St. Francis Xavier | 22.2 |
| Memorial | 23.0 |
| Lethbridge | 23.3 |
| Lakehead | 24.4 |
| Alberta | 25.5 |
| Trent | 25.7 |
| Saint Mary's | 26.1 |
| Victoria | 27.2 |
| Laval | 27.4 |
| Manitoba | 28.6 |
| Dalhousie | 29.2 |
| McGill | 29.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 30.9 |
| York | 31.3 |
| Sherbrooke | 31.5 |
| Cape Breton | 32.3 |
| UQAM | 32.5 |
| Calgary | 32.9 |
| Brock | 33.1 |
| Windsor | 33.7 |
| Concordia | 34.6 |
| Western | 35.3 |
| Wilfrid Laurier | 38.3 |
| Simon Fraser | 38.9 |
| Carleton | 41.2 |
| McMaster | 52.3 |
| UBC | 54.4 |
*Seven universities did not provide figures for fall 2019: Guelph, Montréal, Ontario Tech, Ottawa, Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan and Waterloo.
More on Canada’s best universities:
Average entering grade
Grade distribution
Student retention
Proportion who graduate
Faculty with highest degree in their field