photograph courtesy of johnny guatto, university of toronto

Canada’s Best Universities in 2026 by Social Sciences and Humanities Grants

Maclean’s tracks faculty success in securing SSHRC research grants

October 14, 2025

These figures show the average size and number of peer-adjudicated research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council secured by faculty at each school. The dollar amount of grants is listed per full-time faculty member; the number of grants is per 100 full-time faculty members.

MEDICAL DOCTORAL

University	Rank	Avg. Amount ($)	Avg. Number
Montreal	1	18,970	36.51
Alberta	2	18,376	33.85
McMaster	3	18,540	33.33
UBC	4	16,208	37.01
Toronto	5	15,887	36.85
Queen's	6	12,073	31.41
Calgary	7	13,183	27.72
Ottawa	8	11,398	30.06
McGill	9	12,104	27.90
Dalhousie	10	12,029	27.08
Laval	11	11,593	26.72
Western	12	9,264	23.59
Sherbrooke	13	8,072	24.29
Saskatchewan	14	9,186	16.40
Manitoba	15	7,589	16.23

COMPREHENSIVE

University	Rank	Avg. Amount ($)	Avg. Number
Carleton	1	14,365	29.10
Waterloo	2	13,173	26.59
Simon Fraser	3	12,156	24.64
York	4	11,798	23.44
Toronto Metropolitan	5	12,804	20.00
Wilfrid Laurier	6	12,430	20.44
Victoria	7	12,129	19.22
Concordia	8	9,707	21.23
Guelph	9	9,791	20.73
UQAM	9	7,767	21.64
Brock	11	6,416	13.82
Memorial	12	5,729	13.51
Windsor	13	5,620	12.09
Regina	14	5,971	9.82
New Brunswick	15	3,680	11.52

* Indicates a tie

PRIMARILY UNDERGRADUATE

University	Rank	Avg. Amount ($)	Avg. Number
Ontario Tech	1	10,374	24.44
Winnipeg	2	8,632	18.67
Cape Breton	3	5,143	15.83
Saint Mary's	4	4,623	15.34
Lakehead	5	5,762	12.57
St. Francis Xavier	6	3,639	14.81
Moncton	6	3,612	12.86
Trent	8	3,959	12.16
Lethbridge	9	3,635	12.16
Bishop's	10	3,287	12.22
Laurentian	11	3,174	8.82
Mount Allison	12	2,567	9.52
Brandon	13	2,706	8.55
UNBC	14	2,138	9.64
UPEI	15	2,491	8.33
Mount Saint Vincent	16	2,992	7.21
Acadia	17	2,318	8.15
St. Thomas	18	2,198	6.90
Nipissing	19	2,107	5.43
Algoma	20	781	5.88