photo courtesy of the university of northern british columbia
Canada’s Best Universities in 2025 by Student Awards
Maclean’s tracks student success at winning national awards
These figures show the five-year tally (2019-23) of the number of students, per 1,000, who have won national academic awards.
MEDICAL DOCTORAL
| University | Rank | No. of Awards |
|---|---|---|
| McGill | 1 | 6.8 |
| Toronto | 2 | 5.2 |
| UBC | 3 | 5.1 |
| Dalhousie | 4 | 3.6 |
| Queen's | 5 | 3.3 |
| Ottawa | 6 | 3.2 |
| Alberta | 7 | 2.7 |
| Calgary | 7 | 2.7 |
| Laval | 9 | 2.6 |
| Montréal | 9 | 2.6 |
| Western | 9 | 2.6 |
| McMaster | 12 | 2.4 |
| Sherbrooke | 13 | 2.0 |
| Manitoba | 14 | 1.8 |
| Saskatchewan | 15 | 1.4 |
* Indicates a tie
COMPREHENSIVE
| University | Rank | No. of Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Simon Fraser | 1 | 4.0 |
| Victoria | 2 | 3.6 |
| Waterloo | 3 | 2.7 |
| UQAM | 4 | 2.6 |
| Carleton | 5 | 2.4 |
| New Brunswick | 6 | 2.3 |
| York | 7 | 2.1 |
| Concordia | 8 | 1.9 |
| Guelph | 8 | 1.9 |
| Memorial | 10 | 1.8 |
| Windsor | 11 | 1.3 |
| Wilfrid Laurier | 12 | 1.1 |
| Brock | 13 | 0.9 |
| Toronto Metropolitan | 14 | 0.8 |
| Regina | 15 | 0.6 |
* Indicates a tie
PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE
| University | Rank | No. of Awards |
|---|---|---|
| UNBC | 1 | 1.3 |
| Mount Allison | 2 | 1.2 |
| Saint Mary's | 2 | 1.2 |
| UPEI | 4 | 1.0 |
| St. Francis Xavier | 5 | 0.9 |
| Acadia | 6 | 0.8 |
| Lakehead | 6 | 0.8 |
| Moncton | 6 | 0.8 |
| Bishop's | 9 | 0.7 |
| Lethbridge | 9 | 0.7 |
| Trent | 9 | 0.7 |
| Ontario Tech | 12 | 0.6 |
| Laurentian | 13 | 0.4 |
| Nipissing | 14 | 0.3 |
| Mount Saint Vincent | 15 | 0.2 |
| St. Thomas | 15 | 0.2 |
| Brandon | 17 | 0.1 |
| Winnipeg | 17 | 0.1 |
| Algoma | 19 | none |
| Cape Breton | 19 | none |
* Indicates a tie