Canada ranks above the U.S. in university research in a new global higher education report for 2026 rankings.
The 2026 edition of the MeasureHE Country 100 report placed Canada third worldwide for research quality and influence, while the United States ranked fourth.
The report examined how universities performed in research between 2020 and 2024.
The top five countries in the research category were:
| 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 reflects the quality and global impact of research published by universities and educational institutions.
The report’s authors looked at factors such as citation rates and contributions to important discoveries and academic knowledge.
Canada also performed better than the United States in two other categories:
- Academic integrity: 100 for Canada compared to 99.6 for the U.S.; and
- International integration: 84.0 for Canada compared to 60.4 for the U.S.
How The Rankings Were Calculated?
The report ranked countries using 25 different measures across seven main categories.
These categories and their weighting were:
- Research (35%)
- Global standing (20%)
- Openness (10%)
- Academic integrity (10%)
- Demographics and investment (10%)
- International integration (10%)
- Sustainability (8%)
Each country’s final score was based on its combined performance across all categories.
Research carried the highest weight in the report.
According to MeasureHE, the research category measures a country’s leadership in research, its influence in the academic world, and its ability to develop highly skilled academic talent.
About The Report
The report was published on April 28, 2026 by MeasuresHE, a higher education analytics company.
The organization studies university systems and higher education performance around the world.
MeasuresHE was founded in 2025 by David Watkins and Billy Wong, who previously worked on the Times Higher Education global university rankings.
This marks the first edition of the MeasureHE Country 100 report, which evaluates the top 100 countries for higher education worldwide.
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