Canada has one of the best educational systems in the world. With world class universities and faculty, it has a lot to offer to the local as well as international students. Students from all over the world are attracted to Canada because of the opportunities, quality of education and welcoming nature.
Here are top 5 universities of Canada which are famous worldwide.
1. University of Toronto
The University in Toronto, located in Toronto, Ontario, is a public research university. Founded in 1827 as King’s College- the first institution of higher learning in the colony of Upper Canada- it is now one of the leading institutions in Canada. The university was originally controlled by the Church of England, it became a secular institution in the 1850s and got its present name.
The University of Toronto has 3 campuses: St. George, Mississauga (in the West), and Scarborough (in the East). As a collegiate university, it comprises of 11 colleges, each having their character and history as well as autonomy on financial and institutional affairs. The varsity has over 700 undergrad courses and 200 postgrad degrees to offer, it is one of the finest places in the world for medicine.
The university is known for many influential movements such as the Toronto School of Literary Criticism and Communications Theory, the NP-completeness theory in computer science. This is also the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research and was the site of the first practical electron microscope.
Canada’s first academic publishing house, the first forest science faculty in the nation, and the first Canadian university to reach more than C$1 billion in endowment- are some of the titles to the university’s name.
Notable alumni of the university- 3 Governor Generals of Canada, 4 Prime Ministers of Canada, 3 Foreign leaders, 14 Justices of Supreme Court. As of March 2019, 10 Nobel laureates, 5 Turing Award Winners, 94 Rhodes Scholars, and 1 Fields Medallist have been affiliated with the university.
2. University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university, established in 1908, it is the oldest in the province. It has two campuses- one in Vancouver- offering over 24 academic divisions and one in Kelowna- offering 8 academic divisions. UBC consistently ranks amongst the top universities of Canada and has recently been recognized as North America’s most international university. It has an annual research budget of $600 million and funds more than 8,000 projects a year.
The main campus is in Vancouver and the larger of the two. Situated in the University Endowment Lands, the campus is near several beaches and flaunts of beautiful views over the North Shore mountains. Many memorial and botanical gardens as well as a renowned performing arts center are also there on the campus.
UBC is home to the world’s largest cyclotron at TRIUMF. UBC and the Max Planck Society collectively established the first Max Planck Institute in North America, specializing in quantum materials. The UBC library system, one of the largest in Canada, houses over 9.9million volumes amongst the 20 branches. The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm and the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention are some of the other research facilities. The University offers many scholarships including the Donald A. Wehrung International Student Award for candidates from war-torn countries.
Notable Alumni- 3 Canadian Prime Ministers, including Canada’s first female Prime Minister Kim Campbell, and the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As of 2017, 8 Nobel laureates, 71 Rhodes Scholars, 65 Olympians, 10 fellows in American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society, and 208 fellows to the Royal Society of Canada have been affiliated to UBC.
3. Mc Gill University
Located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the McGill University is a public research university. It was founded in 1821 by a royal charter granted by King George IV. The university has 2 campuses, the main campus in downtown Montreal while the other is situated in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, 30km west of the main campus. It is the only Canadian member of the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), and among the two universities (outside the US) which are members of the Association of American Universities.
It is one of the top-most universities in Canada, and students come here to study from all over the world which makes the student body here the most internationally diverse than any of the research universities in the country. Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Management are the 5 largest faculties here in which most of the students enroll. Degrees and diplomas in more than 300 fields are offered at McGill.
Amongst its notable alumni are 12 Nobel laureates, 145 Rhodes Scholars, two former Prime Ministers of Canada, current Governor-General of Canada, at least 8 foreign leaders, 28 foreign ambassadors, and more than 100 members of National legislatures. 9 Academy Award winners, 11 Grammy Award winners, at least 16 Emmy Award winners, 4 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 121 Olympians with over 35 Olympic medals are some of the other notable alumni.
Research is an integral part of McGill. Ernest Rutherford, while working here as a professor, conducted the Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity. The invention of the artificial blood cell and Plexiglas is also to the university’s name.
4. McMaster University
Mc Master University is a public research university located in Hamilton, Ontario. Its 121 hectares main campus is adjacent to the Hamilton’s Royal Botanical Gardens. The university is named after William McMaster, a well-known senator, and banker, who granted C$900,000 to its founding.
The university has six academic faculties- The DeGroote School of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Social Science, and Science. McMaster ranks consistently among the top research-intensive and medical-doctoral universities, it is also a member of U15. McMaster has a renowned medical school and places special emphasis on research in health sciences.
Notable alumni consist of government officials, academics and business leaders, Nobel laureates, Rhodes, and Gates Cambridge Scholars.
5. University of Montreal
The University of Montreal is a French-language public research university situated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was originally founded as a satellite campus of Universite Laval in 1878. The main campus is located on the Northern slope of Mount Royal in the neighborhoods of Outremont and Cote-des-Neiges. It is the largest in Quebec and the second-largest university in Canada in terms of enrolled students, around one-fourth of which are international.
The university has 13 faculties, over 60 departments, and two affiliated schools- the Polytechnique Montreal and HEC Montreal. It has a wide variety of courses to offer- over 650 undergraduate and graduate programs and 71 doctoral programs. The university is ranked third among all Canadian universities and number one in Quebec since 2005 for research activities. Apart from research and academics, it is also popular in sports. University teams compete in badminton, Canadian football, hockey, etc.
