The university dropped by a spot compared to the previous ranking
Every year, Maclean’s Magazine releases its annual ranking of the top comprehensive universities in Canada. Their 2026 ranking was released on October 14, which put the University of Regina (UofR) in second last place out of 15 universities on the list.
What is a comprehensive university?
A comprehensive university, according to Maclean’s website, consists of Canadian institutions that offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional degrees and conduct numerous research initiatives.
They singled out 15 Canadian universities which met this criteria. In first place was Simon Fraser University, followed by the University of Victoria and the University of Waterloo. The UofR placed 14, just behind Brock University and ahead of the University of Windsor.
Brock University climbed up to the 13th spot in the 2026 ranking in comparison to the 2025 ranking in which it was at 14th spot behind the UofR at the 13th position.
Maclean’s website outlines the ranking process and the criteria used for evaluation. The criteria include student awards, student/faculty ratio, social sciences and humanities grants, student services, faculty awards, medical/science grants, total research dollars, library expenses, operating budget, scholarships and bursaries, library accusations, and a reputational survey.
Criteria specific UofR ranks
The UofR held the last spot in student awards, finishing just behind Toronto Metropolitan. They also scored low on the charts in faculty awards, reputational survey, and library acquisitions.
The university scored the highest on the student faculty ratio criterion by being ranked sixth just ahead of Carleton University at the seventh and behind Université du Québec à Montréal at the fifth position. They finished sixth in the student services category as well, just behind Brock University. The other criterion where the university did relatively better was operating budget where they placed seventh ahead of the University of Waterloo at the eighth position.
The rest of the criteria landed the university closer to the bottom. They ranked 10th along with the University of Windsor in medical/science grants 11th in the categories of research dollars, library expenses, and scholarships and bursaries.
Annual domestic tuition comparison
According to Maclean’s Magazine’s data, the average yearly tuition for a full time domestic student at the UofR is $8,983. This means the UofR currently has the second highest average tuition of the 15 universities with just the University of New Brunswick above it. The University of New Brunswick has an average annual domestic tuition of $9,435 and is at seventh position in the overall ranking. It should be noted that the data on Maclean’s website only presents domestic tuition and does not include the tuition for international students.
The UofR, unlike some other universities, does not have a higher tuition for out-of-province students. The average tuition of the Université du Québec à Montréal is technically the lowest at $4,407, but that number only accounts for Québec residents. The annual tuition at the institution for out-of-province students sits at $10,701.
This is similar to other universities such as Concordia University which is ranked ninth overall and the Toronto Metropolitan which is ranked 10th. Concordia’s tuition for students from the province sits at $4,975, but the number for out-of-province students is significantly higher ranging from $10,368 to $12,868. Toronto Metropolitan sees a rise of approximately $1,500 in the annual tuition for out-of-province students.
Some of the nation’s top comprehensive universities do not differ in tuition cost for out-of-province students. These include the top two schools which are Simon Fraser ($7,619) and University of Victoria ($7,186) respectively. Wilfrid Laurier University ranked 12th also has the same tuition for both local and out-of-province students ($ 7,801).
According to Ellis, the university’s ongoing investment in student wellbeing and research is not just to climb rankings but to make meaningful contributions to society.
Student body size and campus accomodation
The University of Regina currently reports an undergraduate enrolment of 12,025 full time students and 2,202 part time students. Institutions such as the University of Windsor and Memorial University of Newfoundland have fewer undergraduate students than the UofR.
The university’s student body, however, is lower than some other universities on the list. York University, which is ranked fifth overall, currently has a full-time undergraduate student population of around 41,000.
For students living on campus at the UofR, it costs around $6,290 to $10,580 for a single room with meals. The cost is much lower than others like Carleton University (ranked fourth overall) where it ranges from 12K to 14K for a double room and 14K to 15K for a single room with meals.
Easier admissions requirements
One of the other bright spots for the UofR is its admissions requirements. The program requirements for most programs is a 70 per cent average except certain engineering programs which require higher grades.
Simon Fraser University which is ranked 1 comes has the requirement of 80 per cent average for most programs and University of Waterloo’s admission requirement is an average of 85 per cent.
UofR aims to do better
Mindy Ellis, senior public affairs strategist, UofR, says that the university has done well in competing with other comprehensive universities in terms of affordability for both domestic and international students.
“We pride ourselves in having vital, on-campus services that improve the well-being of students. We ranked highly in this area due to our commitment to our nationally recognized wellness programing, mental health resources, the Centre for Experiential and Service Learning (CESL), and the development of more ‘zero-cost’ or open education resources,” said Ellis in an email to the Carillon.
Ellis said the university is looking to improve in several areas in the near future. These areas include expanding student awards, scholarships, and bursaries.
“We encourage students to register for our Student Awards Management System (SAMS) to learn what awards and scholarships are available. We also have a database of internal and external scholarships available for graduate students,” she said.
Research endeavors at the university are expected to increase as well. “The UofR prioritizes research by leading the way and developing solutions to challenges that impact our global communities,” Ellis shared.
While the University of Regina ranking shows a slight decline, the university officials remain optimistic. According to Ellis, the university’s ongoing investment in student wellbeing and research is not just to climb rankings but to make meaningful contributions to society.
