Three universities and a couple of hospitals in B.C. have been named among the top 20 in Canada in a key metric.
The University of British Columbia (UBC), the University of Victoria (UVIC), and Simon Fraser University (SFU) have all been named in the top 20 for Canada’s top research universities.
UBC was ranked #4, UVIC was ranked #18, and SFU was ranked #19.
The B.C. universities trail the University of Toronto, Université de Montréal, and McGill University, which ranked 1-3, respectively.
The designation comes from Research Infosource, Canada’s source of R&D intelligence.
According to the ranking, UBC had a sponsored research income of $739,668 in FY2024, marking a 3.8 per cent increase between 2023 and 2024. UVIC’s sponsored research income was $168,000, and SFU’s was $158,690.
Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities 2025
The ranking considered factors like faculty headcount, graduate student enrollment and financial data from Statistics Canada.
UVIC was also named the best university under the comprehensive rank for faculty research intensity.
Earlier this year, UBC was named as one of the world’s best universities on the Academic Ranking of World Universities, albeit with a slight drop.
In October, Times Higher Education ranked UBC as the 45th best university in the world and the third-best in Canada. Like this research ranking, UBC also trailed the University of Toronto and McGill University on the Times Higher Education list of best universities.
Research Infosource ranked the best research colleges as well, where Langara ranked #40, and Camosun College ranked #43.
Research Infosource also had a separate ranking for the top 40 research hospitals in Canada, where two B.C. institutions placed among the top 10, including the Provincial Health Services Authority at #4 and Vancouver Coastal Health at #6.
Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals 2025