Montreal is a city renowned for many things including great food, a stellar festival scene, top tier nightlife and now, student friendly can be added to the list.
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a higher education analytics firm based in the United Kingdom, dropped its Best Student Cities of 2025 ranking and Montreal made the cut.
Now in its 12th year, the Best Student Cities rankings compare 150 study destinations in indicators important to international students — student feedback, university ranking, affordability, employment opportunities, and diversity, QS said.
London ranked first, thanks to its roster of world-class universities, diverse student population, exceptional career opportunity and outstanding feedback from current and former students, QS indicated.
Tokyo, Seoul, Munich, and Melbourne all made up the remainder of the top five.
But how did Montreal perform?
Montreal not only appeared on the list, but the city managed to ranked 10th overall. Considering Montreal is home to countless universities including Concordia, UdeM, UQAM and McGill University, which has topped past QS university rankings, it’s no surprise that it made the top 10.
However, with ongoing tuition hikes and Quebec language laws affecting foreign students, Montreal’s placement could fall outside the top 10 in future rankings.
Toronto ranked 11th, trailing behind Montreal by just one spot. Vancouver also made the cut, landing in the top 20 at number 19.
Ottawa (57) and Quebec City (128) were the only remaining Canadian schools to make the list.
Wondering which other global cities made the cut? Here’s the complete top 15 of the best cities in the world for student, per QS:
- London
- Tokyo
- Seoul
- Munich
- Melbourne
- Sydney
- Paris
- Zurich
- Berlin
- Montreal
- Toronto
- Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe
- Edinburgh
- Vienna
- Singapore
This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
