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University of Victoria

Rankings & reputation

UVic is one of Canada’s leading universities. We are widely recognized for leadership in research, inspired teaching and community engagement.

We provide innovative undergraduate and graduate programs and dynamic learning experiences in our diverse and welcoming West Coast setting.

Times Higher Education logo

Top 1%

of global universities for contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

(2025 Times Higher Education Impact Ranking)

Ranking highlights

#1 university in Canada and #5 globally for climate action (THE Impact Rankings 2025)

#1 university in Canada and #2 globally for contributions to sustainable cities and communities (THE Impact Rankings 2025)

#1 university in Canada for faculty achievement in prestigious national awards (Maclean's 2025)

#4 among all Canadian universities in citation impact per faculty member (QS rankings 2026)

#1 MBA in Canada in Sustainable Innovation (Corporate Knights’ Better World MBA ranking 2025)

Platinum rating in Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS)

Rankings by external bodies

The University of Victoria is recognized annually as one of Canada’s top universities.

Leiden University rankings

#1 in Canada for international research collaborations (2025)

The Leiden Rankings show that UVic-based researchers consistently write a higher proportion of top-performing papers based on international collaborations than any other university in North America. 

  • 4th in Canada in Overall Scientific Impact (based on share of papers in top cited 10%)
    • 3rd in Canada in Scientific Impact in the Social Sciences and Humanities
    • 3rd in Canada in Scientific Impact in Mathematics and Computer Science
    • 4th in Canada in Scientific Impact in Biomedical and Health Sciences

#2 in Canada for Open Access publications (Leiden Open Edition 2025)

UVic is one of the top schools in Canada for making science and scholarship findings accessible and affordable. Leiden’s Open Access category shows that more than half of UVic’s publications (65.4%) circulate legally and sustainably in open access journals and repositories.

In addition to efforts in making the latest research free and available, UVic faculty and libraries are also spearheading efforts to reduce the cost of education by creating and sharing open access textbooks and other open educational resources.

Maclean's

#2 among Canadian comprehensive universities (2025)

UVic is consistently ranked among the top Canadian comprehensive universities by Maclean's magazine.

In addition to information from two subjective reputational surveys, Maclean’s weighs 11 key performance indicators to arrive at its rankings, including funding data on research and student services. UVic’s performance is among the top three performers in six of those 11 categories.

#1 in faculty awards among Canadian comprehensive universities (2025)

#3 in medical/science grants among Canadian comprehensive universities (2025)

#3 in social science/humanities grants among Canadian comprehensive universities (2025)

Maclean's comprehensive category comprises the 15 Canadian universities that combine a significant amount of research activity with a wide range of programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, including professional degrees.

The 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject recognize UVic's leadership in a broad range of academic fields. The QS rankings also suggest that UVic's rising international reputation stems from extraordinary programs across the institution.

UVic is identified in the top 300 institutions globally for studying in 9 QS subject areas:

  • Earth & marine sciences
  • English language & literature
  • Geology
  • Geophysics
  • Linguistics
  • Psychology
  • Sports-related subjects
  • Nursing
  • Mathematics

The 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), created by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, also ranks UVic as a Canadian and global leader in research across many fields.

Of the 57 individual subjects ARWU considers, UVic is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in 5 areas:

  • Oceanography – ranked 35th globally and #1 in Canada
  • Atmospheric science – ranked 41st globally and #1 in Canada
  • Automation and control – ranked 38th globally and #3 in Canada
  • Earth Sciences – 51-75 globally and #3 in Canada
  • Public administration – ranked 76-100 globally and #2 in Canada

And among the world's top 200 universities in an additional 7 areas:

  • Ecology
  • Electrical and electronic engineering
  • Geography
  • Psychology
  • Public health
  • Telecommunication engineering
  • Transportation science and technology

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings evaluate the work of universities around the globe to support and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In our teaching, research and operations—advanced through extensive local, national and international partnerships—UVic is recognized by the Impact Rankings as a leader in pursuit of those goals, ranking second in Canada for contributions.
 
UVic is in the top 20 colleges and universities around the world in advancing and living up to the commitments of:
 
  • SDG 1: No poverty — #26
  • SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities — #2 globally and 1st in Canada
  • SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production — #44 globally and 5th in Canada
  • SDG 13: Climate action — #5 globally and 1st in Canada
  • SDG 14: Life below water — #2 globally and 1st in Canada
  • SDG 15: Life on land — #9 globally and 2nd in Canada

UVic is one of the world’s leading institutions in six of the 11 broad academic fields ranked by Times Higher Education (THE).

In law and the physical sciences—which encompass mathematics and statistics, physics and astronomy, chemistry, geology, environmental sciences, and earth and marine sciences—UVic is among the top 200 schools in the world.

UVic is also ranked among the world’s top 300 schools in computer science, engineering, medical and health, and the life sciences.

U-Multirank shows that UVic is the top university in North America for producing research based on international joint publications. UVic is among the top 10 Canadian universities for research overall.

UVic also placed among the top four schools in Canada for international joint publications.

In the news

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Honours & awards

47 UVic faculty members have been elected fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, the nation’s highest academic honour for career achievement. 

UVic has an allocation of 37 Canada Research Chairs. UVic instructors are also well-represented among the winners of acclaimed national 3M teaching awards.

Our Co-operative Education Program and our Peter B. Gustavson School of Business have both received Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada ScotiaBank Awards for Excellence in Internationalization.

View UVic award winners