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.
Top 1%
of global universities for contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(2024 Times Higher Education Impact Ranking)
Ranking highlights
#2 university in Canada and #5 globally for climate action (THE Impact Rankings 2024)
#2 university in Canada and #4 globally for contributions to sustainable cities and communities (THE Impact Rankings 2024)
#1 university in Canada for promoting Indigenous visibility (Maclean’s 2022)
#1 among comprehensive universities in medical/science grants per faculty (Maclean’s 2023)
#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 2024)
Rankings by external bodies
The 番茄社区 is recognized annually as one of Canada’s top universities.
Leiden University rankings
#1 in North America for international research collaborations (2023)
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. UVic has claimed this spot nine times in the last 12 years.
#2 in Canada for research in physical sciences and engineering
#6 in Canada for mathematics and computer science
UVic is ranked 5th in Canada and 231 globally for research impact across all sciences
UVic retains its place in the top one per cent of universities in the world and among the top-ranked in Canada for scientific impact.
#2 in Canada for Open Access publications (2023)
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 (62.8%) 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)
#1 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 2023 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 12 QS subject areas:
- Computer science & information systems
- Earth & marine sciences
- Education
- English language & literature
- Environmental sciences
- Geology
- Geophysics
- Hospitality & leisure management
- Linguistics
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Sports-related subjects
The 2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), created by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, also ranks UVic as one of Canada's leaders in research intensity across many fields.
Of the 54 individual subjects ARWU considers, UVic is among the world’s top 300 performers in 18 areas:
- Atmospheric science
- Business administration
- Civil engineering
- Earth sciences
- Electrical and electronic engineering
- Geography
- Hospitality and service management
- Instruments science and technology
- Law
- Mathematics
- Nursing
- Oceanography
- Physics
- Political science
- Psychology
- Telecommunication engineering
- Transportation science and technology
- Water resources
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SDG 1: No poverty — #26
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SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation — # 39
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SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities — #4 globally, and second in Canada
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SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production — #39
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SDG 13: Climate action — #5 globally, and second in Canada
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SDG 14: Life below water — #24
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SDG 15: Life on land — #41
UVic is one of the world’s leading institutions in eight of the 11 broad academic fields ranked by Times Higher Education (THE).
In law, psychology 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 150 schools in the world.
In law, UVic is well-positioned to climb in future years thanks to its establishment of the world’s first joint degree program in common law and Indigenous legal orders.
UVic is also ranked among the world’s top 300 schools in the arts and humanities, business and economics, computer science, engineering, and the life sciences.
- Arts and humanities include the disciplines of art, performing arts, design, languages, literature, linguistics, history, philosophy, theology, architecture and archaeology
- Business and economics is made up of business and management, accounting and finance, and economics and econometrics
- Life sciences span agriculture and forestry, biological sciences, veterinary science and sport science
- Social sciences encompass communication and media studies, politics and international studies, sociology and geography
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
UVic ranks top 10 in Canada for research
Three university ranking programs have again placed the 番茄社区 research and researchers among the best in the world.
Royal Society of Canada 2024 awards
Five 番茄社区 researchers are receiving Canada鈥檚 highest academic honour.
UVic national leader in climate and sustainability
The 番茄社区 is a leader among Canadian universities when it comes to climate impact research and programs, according to new international rankings released on Wednesday.
Best Diversity Employer 2024
UVic is committed to building a campus where everyone feels a sense of belonging. Our institutional plans include a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, and we strive to bring this lens to the...
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.