Concordia moves up in Maclean’s rankings

Concordia has advanced to ninth place among 15 comprehensive universities in Maclean’s magazine’s annual Canadian university rankings. This represents Concordia’s highest position since 2008 and is an improvement of one spot from last year.

In Maclean’s 2024 rankings, the university moved up in five of the 12 performance indicators. Concordia placed fourth, its highest rank, in two of the indicators: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grants, for the second consecutive year; and Reputation Survey, climbing two spots.

In the National Reputation Survey, Concordia ranked fourth, up from sixth last year, among the 15 comprehensive universities, and advanced two spots to 16th nationally for Best Overall among 50 universities across all categories. 

Over the past few months, Concordia continued its solid placement in a number of rankings that compare universities across the country and around the world.

CSRankings

In the recently released 2023 Computer Science Rankings (CSRankings), Concordia’s software engineering researchers placed number one in Canada, third in North America and fifth in the world. The CSRankings identify international institutions and faculty actively engaged in research across several computer science areas.

The rankings’ placements are based on the number of publications by faculty that have appeared at the most selective computer science conferences. Software engineering is one of 12 “systems” identified by CSRankings.

“Thanks to the sustained collective efforts and contributions of our amazing group of researchers, our dedicated staff and the vision and support of the higher administration at the Gina Cody School and Concordia, we continue to ascend to the topmost echelons in one of the most wide-reaching and important fields of research of our times,” says Joey Paquet, chair of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering.

Forbes best employers rankings

Concordia placed highly in Forbes magazine’s two best employers rankings in 2023. The university ranked in the top 20 on Forbes’s 2023 Canada’s Best Employers list. Forbes placed Concordia 16th overall out of 300 organizations and second among those headquartered in Quebec.

Concordia ranked fourth highest, and tops in Quebec in the education industry category, which includes 30 colleges, universities and school boards across the country.

The ranking is based on Forbes and market research company Statista’s survey of 12,000 Canadians working at companies and institutions with at least 500 employees. The government services sector was not included.

Concordia was also included by Forbes as one of Canada’s Best Employers for Diversity in 2023. The university placed 54th in the country overall and fifth in Quebec. In the education category, the university placed ninth in Canada and first in Quebec.

From the same survey of 12,000 workers, participants rated their companies based on criteria such as age, gender, ethnicity, disability and 2SLGBTQIA+ equality, as well as diversity overall.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Concordia moved back to 501-600 category in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. After being placed in the 601-800 position for the previous five years, the university returned to its previous position despite being among more institutions than ever before, 1,904, compared to 1,799 last year.

Among 31 Canadian universities, Concordia placed 21-24 compared to 20-27 in the 2023 rankings.

Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities

In the most recent edition of the Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Concordia placed in the 501-600 category out of more than 2,500 universities worldwide. It was the third straight year Concordia was in the 501-600 slot.

Concordia did move up one place among the 25 ranked Canadian universities. In 2023 it ranked 19th-22nd, tied with three others, up from 20st-22nd out of 26 last year.

The ARWU uses an entirely quantitative approach. Its six indicators measure Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals for alumni and current faculty and staff, and faculty publications and citations in academic journals.

NTU Ranking

The 2023 edition of the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities, also known as the NTU Ranking, included Concordia in eight subjects and placed the university among the world’s top 750 overall. Concordia’s highest-ranked subject was Civil Engineering, at 130th.

Concordia placed among the top 10 Canadian universities in four subjects, the same as in 2022: Electrical Engineering, fifth; Mechanical Engineering, fifth-sixth; Civil Engineering, sixth; and Computer Science, seventh.

The NTU Rankings consist of an overall placement of the top universities worldwide, as well as six field-based rankings and 27 subject-based rankings. This year, Concordia ranked internationally in two fields and eight subjects, one more subject than last year.

In the field-based rankings, NTU put Concordia at 351st-400th in Social Sciences, and 401st-450th in Engineering.

Overall, Concordia placed in the 701-750 category out of 1,000 this year, up from 851-900 last year and returning its range from 2017 to 2021, when the global ranking encompassed only 800 universities. Concordia was 24th out of 27 Canadian universities ranked.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2023-24 rankings

The John Molson School of Business’s MBA program was named fourth best in Canada, up two spots from last year, in Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2023-24 rankings.

Bloomberg evaluates Canadian full-time graduate business programs based on four categories: Compensation, Learning, Networking and Entrepreneurship. The John Molson School moved up in Canada in three of the four categories: to second in entrepreneurship and learning and to third in compensation.

CEO Magazine Global MBA rankings

CEO Magazine’s 2023 Global MBA Rankings named Concordia’s John Molson Executive MBA program one of the best in the world. The program ranked 25th globally out of the 62 EMBA programs reviewed, up two spots from last year, and placed third in Canada. Additionally, the John Molson MBA program maintained its ranking as a tier 1 program internationally.

The EMBA program — which was the first of its kind in Quebec — was among just four Canadian programs to receive recognition. John Molson also ranked as a “premier provider” for its PhD in Business Administration, one of three Canadian university programs to place.
 

See how the university and its programs rank among Canadian and international institutions.