Canada has ranked higher than the United States in university research, in a new global report on higher education.
Plan your journey for Canadian permanent residence
Of the top five overall ranked countries in the MeasureHE Country 100 report (2026 edition), Canada scored third in research, the U.S. fourth:
| Rank | Country | Research score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 95.2 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 91.7 |
| 3 | Canada | 89.4 |
| 4 | United States | 89.0 |
| 5 | Sweden | 88.3 |
The Research score is intended to represent the quality and global influence of the research published by each country’s educational institutions from 2020–2024. The report authors used statistical measures such as the frequency of citations and contribution to breakthrough knowledge to gauge the influence of publications in their fields.
Canada also scored higher than the U.S. in academic integrity (100 vs. 99.6) and international integration (84.0 vs 60.4).
Methodology
The overall score of each country in this report was determined through the examination of 25 metrics, across seven pillars (each assigned a weight):
- Research (35%);
- Global standing (20%);
- Openness (10%);
- Academic integrity (10%);
- Demographics and investment (10%);
- International integration (10%); and
- Sustainability (8%).
The final score for each country is the weighted sum of its performance across these seven pillars.
The Research category was weighted most heavily, and “measures national research leadership, impact, and the cultivation of elite academic human capital.”
This report was published by MeasuresHe, a specialized higher education analytics firm, on April 28, 2026, and examines the 100 best countries for higher education.
MeasuresHE was founded in 2025 by David Watkins and Billy Wong, data analysts who previously assisted in the creation of the Times Higher Education global university rankings—making this the first edition of the global higher education report.
Plan your journey for Canadian permanent residence