Education
Canada’s Best Universities 2023: Grade Distribution
A look at the average high school grades of each school’s incoming students
(Photo courtesy of Laurent Benoit/Sherbrooke University)
These numbers show the percentage of full-time students who entered first year university in the fall of 2021 with high school grade average in the following ranges:
 University | Less than 70% | 70 to 74.9% | 75 to 79.9% | 80 to 84.9% | 85 to 89.9% | 90 to 94.9% | 95% or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acadia | 0.9 | 5.4 | 13.1 | 21.3 | 23 | 25 | 11.3 |
| Alberta | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 13.4 | 28.6 | 38.3 | 16.5 |
| Bishop's | 0 | 1.1 | 16.9 | 24.3 | 39 | 18.1 | 0.6 |
| Brandon | 4.1 | 4.5 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 24 | 26.8 | 22 |
| Brock | 0 | 6.5 | 13.9 | 24.3 | 27.6 | 21.2 | 6.3 |
| Calgary | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 12.5 | 32.8 | 34.6 | 16.4 |
| Cape Breton | 4.6 | 6.2 | 8.2 | 17.9 | 22.6 | 24.7 | 15.9 |
| Carleton | 0 | 2 | 10.5 | 21.1 | 29.7 | 27.4 | 9.3 |
| Concordia | 0 | 0.7 | 7.9 | 25.2 | 43.9 | 21.4 | 0.8 |
| Dalhousie | 1 | 2.3 | 5.5 | 13.3 | 25 | 30.5 | 22.2 |
| Guelph | 0 | 0.5 | 5.1 | 19.2 | 34.7 | 32.3 | 8.2 |
| Lakehead | 3.3 | 5.4 | 13.8 | 20.6 | 21.8 | 22.1 | 12.8 |
| Laurentian | 1.8 | 5.9 | 13.6 | 20.6 | 25.9 | 24.5 | 7.7 |
| Laval | 0 | 0.4 | 7.2 | 20.3 | 38.1 | 29.5 | 4.5 |
| Lethbridge | 5.9 | 12.8 | 19.9 | 22.3 | 19.5 | 13.9 | 5.7 |
| Manitoba | 0 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 6.7 | 14.8 | 29.9 | 45.1 |
| McGill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 56.5 | 22.5 |
| McMaster | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 6.7 | 19.9 | 40.5 | 31.3 |
| Memorial | 0.1 | 5 | 9.1 | 17.7 | 26.7 | 29.2 | 12.1 |
| Moncton | 1.1 | 4.1 | 12.4 | 17.1 | 23.3 | 29.1 | 12.8 |
| Montréal | 0 | 0 | 1.4 | 9.2 | 36.4 | 43.1 | 9.9 |
| Mount Allison | 0 | 2.9 | 13.6 | 14.6 | 22.5 | 29.6 | 16.8 |
| Mount Saint Vincent | 2.6 | 4.5 | 13.5 | 14.7 | 26.3 | 24.4 | 13.9 |
| New Brunswick | 1 | 2.9 | 10.8 | 18.3 | 24.7 | 26 | 16.2 |
| Nipissing | 1.8 | 2.8 | 7.7 | 21.2 | 27.6 | 32.1 | 6.9 |
| UNBC | 2 | 3.3 | 8.2 | 17.2 | 17.6 | 32.4 | 19.3 |
| Ontario Tech | 1.1 | 7.6 | 17.2 | 26.3 | 26.7 | 16.6 | 4.5 |
| Ottawa | 0 | 1.4 | 9.3 | 21.5 | 29.2 | 27.7 | 10.8 |
| UPEI | 0 | 4.3 | 10.5 | 17.6 | 24 | 28.9 | 14.6 |
| UQAM | 0 | 0.6 | 12.4 | 33.7 | 39.2 | 13.4 | 0.6 |
| Queen's | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 6.2 | 19.7 | 42.9 | 30.6 |
| Regina | 1.2 | 5.1 | 9.2 | 17.3 | 24.5 | 30.7 | 12.1 |
| St. Francis Xavier | 0 | 1.4 | 9.5 | 17.1 | 25 | 32.6 | 14.3 |
| Saint Mary's | 1.6 | 9.9 | 14.1 | 16.1 | 21.5 | 22.3 | 14.5 |
| St. Thomas | 0 | 3.9 | 11.8 | 15.8 | 27.6 | 25 | 15.8 |
| Saskatchewan | 0 | 4.5 | 7.3 | 14.7 | 19.3 | 30 | 24.1 |
| Sherbrooke | 0 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 23.1 | 36.2 | 30.5 | 6.5 |
| Simon Fraser | 0 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 14.1 | 39 | 36.3 | 8.1 |
| Toronto * | 0 | 0.1 | 3.6 | 12.3 | 25.9 | 35.9 | 22.1 |
| Toronto Metropolitan | 0 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 14 | 31 | 37 | 12.6 |
| Trent | 2 | 9 | 14 | 22 | 27 | 21 | 5 |
| Victoria | 0 | 0.1 | 2 | 12.1 | 30 | 34.8 | 21.2 |
| Waterloo | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1 | 6.2 | 16.8 | 32.6 | 43.2 |
| Western | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 3 | 22.3 | 48 | 26.6 |
| Wilfrid Laurier | 0 | 5.4 | 9.6 | 17.1 | 28.1 | 30.7 | 9.1 |
| Windsor | 1 | 7.9 | 16 | 26.8 | 25.6 | 18.8 | 4 |
| Winnipeg | 5.7 | 6.5 | 13.2 | 17.2 | 21.4 | 23.8 | 12.3 |
| York | 0.7 | 4.6 | 13.1 | 24 | 28.1 | 21.9 | 7.7 |
*Figures are for fall 2020. UBC did not provide figures.
More on Canada’s best universities:
Average entering grade
Student retention
Proportion who graduate
Average class size
Faculty with highest degree in their field