In Canada, we have many great universities that are among the best in the world across many different fields. From business, to engineering, to law, and more, Canadian universities are among the best there are. In the social sciences, this is no different. Whether it’s political science, sociology, or any other social science field of study, there are many Canadian post-secondary institutions that provide excellent education on such topics.
In today’s article, we’re going to list off a few of these universities in no particular order, highlighting where you should study if you’re a Canadian interested in learning more about the world of the social sciences. From the Pacific to the Atlantic and everywhere in between, here are some of the best universities in Canada for the social sciences!
University of British Columbia
According to EduRank, UBC has the second best program for social sciences in all of Canada, which gives them the spot of 20th in the world. For social sciences in British Columbia, UBC is the clear best choice, with the next best option, Simon Fraser, being quite far behind in quality according to most metrics.
The University of British Columbia has a ton of great programs in the social sciences, but most publications that evaluate institutions specifically praise UBC for their political science, criminology, and psychology programs, with some sources stating that the latter sees UBC flirting with a top 15 spot in the world. Overall, if you want to study the social sciences in Western Canada, you can’t go wrong with UBC.
University of Alberta
If you’re looking into the social sciences in the prairies, there is no option that comes particularly close to the prestige that U of A has. On EduRank, the university is ranked 5th for the social sciences in Canada. On Times Higher Education, they’re 9th. The next prairie school closest to them in the three prairie provinces is the University of Calgary, ranked 8th and 17th on the two sources, respectively.
The U of A has a great political science program, and also provide competent programs in most any social science field you can think of, but they are perhaps most known within the social sciences for their renowned anthropology program, which is consistently ranked in the top 5 of Canada. On this note, Alberta has quite strong programs related to all things history – and while much of these programs are considered humanities, the ones like anthropology are very strong social science programs.
Overall, the U of A is a very strong university for social sciences in a sparse area where universities are few and far between.
University of Toronto
Over recent years, the University of Toronto has begun to overtake McGill as Canada’s best university in more and more subjects. Now, according to most evaluators, the social sciences are no different. In fact, the sources that have been used in the writing of this article mostly all agree that UofT is the best school for the social sciences in all of Canada, and a firm pick for one of the top 20 in this regard in the world.
UofT has a competent program in just about every social science – on the QS World University Rankings, they’re given the honour of 14th best social sciences department in the world, with the 13th best psychology program and 12th best anthropology program according to the same source. Toronto is a little lower for politics, but still, no matter which program you choose, UofT offers one of the very best of such in all of Canada.
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a school that has struggled in university rankings over recent years, but its social sciences department still remains one of the best in Canada with some strong unique advantages that no other school can offer. For one, uOttawa is one of very few schools in Canada that offers courses in both French and English. On top of this, being in the nation’s capital, uOttawa has no shortage of internship and other resumé-building opportunities.
For the reason listed above, uOttawa’s most notable program is certainly political science, which EduRank puts at 4th in Canada and nearly top 50 in the world. uOttawa and Carleton are both strong in this regard, but uOttawa gets the spot on this list for having a slight edge. For students who want to go into government work, a degree at uOttawa is as valuable as it gets. There’s also the advantage of uOttawa’s law school, which frequently accepts applicants from its rich social science pool.
McGill University
After all these years, McGill still remains one of the most prestigious Canadian schools in every department, including the social sciences. McGill offers top of the line courses in most any social science program you could think of, but are especially known for great programs in anthropology, psychology, and sociology.
McGill is still one of Canada’s ivy league-esque schools, and that’s not going to change any time soon. So if you want to study the social sciences in Quebec, there may be no better choice than McGill.
Dalhousie University
Admittedly, Dalhousie is not as high as most of the other schools on this list in terms of where it ranks according to university evaluators. It gets the spot on this list, though, because its faculty of social sciences is bar none compared to the other schools in the Maritimes.
Still, Dalhousie’s rankings are nothing to scoff at; 16th of 91 listed universities on EduRank for social sciences overall, 13th in sociology. It’s also 13th overall according to Times Higher Education, and 16th according to the QS University Rankings. Dalhousie proudly boasts having the most social sciences programs in all of Atlantic Canada. For those in the Maritimes who want to stay close to home, Dalhousie is no slouch by any means.
Though this list only contained 6 universities, Canada is full of fantastic institutions where you can receive the best education imaginable. It’s hard to go wrong with all of our great schools, so don’t feel bummed out if you didn’t get accepted to your first choice – odds are, you’ll come out of your backup with just as good of an education!
