University of Toronto isn't the top school in Canada's best universities ranking for 2027
You might not expect some of the universities that are on this list.
A new ranking of the best universities in Canada for 2027 is out, and the top school isn't the University of Toronto.
Ontario post-secondary schools, including a few you might not expect, dominated the list but didn't get the number one spot.
Maclean's recently published the 2027 University Rankings for post-secondary schools in Canada.
It includes lists of the best large, mid-size and small universities, along with rankings based on student awards, graduation rates, faculty awards, scholarships, research, student services, reputation and other criteria.
There are 15 post-secondary schools ranked on Maclean's list of the top large universities. The Canadian universities must have more than 30,000 students and offer a wide range of programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
In the ranking of Canada's best large universities for 2027, the top school is McGill University.
Maclean's said that McGill has more Rhodes Scholars and Nobel Prize laureates than any other university in Canada. Its standout programs are Population and Global Health, Education in Global Contexts, and Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry.
Then, the University of Toronto is second, and the University of British Columbia is third.
University of Toronto is "in a class of its own," according to Maclean's, because it has more than 16,500 faculty, over 700 undergraduate programs and more than 102,000 students across three campuses. The standout programs are AI Engineering, Game Studies, and Management Co-op.
Maclean's said the University of British Columbia has an international reputation for research and graduate programs. The university's standout programs are Management, Indigenous Land Stewardship, and Freshwater Science.
Those schools are Canada's big three in university rankings, but the University of Toronto is typically the number one school in Canada, so you might not have expected McGill to take the top spot.
After the top three, the University of Waterloo is fourth, and Queen's University is fifth.
Then, the University of Alberta and McMaster University are tied for sixth, the University of Ottawa is eighth, the University of Calgary is ninth, and Western University is 10th, according to Maclean's.
Université Laval is 11th, Université de Montréal is 12th, York University is 13th, Toronto Metropolitan University is 14th, and Concordia University is 15th in this ranking of Canada's top universities.
Ontario is the most represented province, with eight schools in the province ranked in the top 15, compared to four in Quebec, two in Alberta and one in B.C.
READ NEXT: Canada's top schools fell in this best universities ranking but others aren't close to U of T
Alleged Tumbler Ridge mass shooting conspirator set to enter plea in U.S. court
The alleged co-conspirator in the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., is expected to enter a plea at an arraignment in a Seattle courthouse today.
A grand jury in Washington state last week indicted 30-year-old James Bryant for conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.
The criminal complaint against Bryant, who uses female pronouns and goes by the name Melody, alleges she colluded with shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar online, helping set up an attempted livestream of the murders.
The complaint says Bryant also advised 18-year-old Van Rootselaar on where to carry out the attack and sent the shooter money to buy a lighter for an explosive device.
Van Rootselaar killed eight victims last February, including five students and an educational assistant at the local secondary school, before she fatally shot herself as police closed in.
Bryant has been denied bail.
A statement from the U.S. Justice Department says conspiracy to murder in a foreign country is punishable by up to life in prison.
It cautions that the accusations against Bryant remain unproven.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
By Brenna Owen | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Skunk in downtown Vancouver that bit people tests positive for rabies
A skunk that bit a number of people in downtown Vancouver has tested positive for rabies.
Vancouver Coastal Health issued a news release notifying the public of the confirmed case on Wednesday.
The health authority said interactions with skunks are rare, but "a small number of people bitten by the skunk have been assessed and received rabies vaccinations and immunoglobulin to prevent rabies."
Rabies virus is a fatal viral infection that affects the brain and nervous system. It is found in the saliva of infected animals and can be transmitted through a bite or a scratch from an infected animal, Vancouver Coastal Health said.
"Rabies virus is not transmitted through exposure to the spray, urine or feces of infected skunks," it added.
Though bats are the only known "reservoirs" for rabies in British Columbia, the authority said "occasional spillovers to other animal species in specific geographical areas, including skunks, have occurred in B.C."
The seriousness of the infection was highlighted in an issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal earlier this year, where infectious disease physicians described the case of an 11-year-old Ontario child who died of rabies in 2024.
Dr. Brian Hummel, the case report's senior author and a pediatric infectious disease physician at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, told The Canadian Press in June that it's "an extraordinarily rare infection" for humans in Canada, with only 28 cases reported since 1924.
The most recent rabies case before the 11-year-old boy was a man who died after exposure to a bat in B.C. in 2019.
Hummel said once symptoms of rabies start, there is no treatment or cure, but noted the virus has a relatively long incubation period — usually weeks — before symptoms of illness start to show.
Anyone who may have been bitten or scratched by a sick or abnormally behaving skunk in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood between Sept. 22 and Oct. 17 is being asked to contact Vancouver Coastal Health for assessment.
The release said anyone who lives outside the region should contact their local health authority for assessment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.