Montreal has been named the best city for students in Canada and 10th in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings.
QS has multiple university rankings, but this is the first time the group has created a world ranking list for student living.
In order to qualify, the city must have a population of over 250,000 and must be home to two institutions that have been ranked. Ninety-eight cities in the world qualify, according to the QS website.
Montreal is rich in educational institutions with three major universities: Université de Montréal, Concordia University, and Canada’s top ranked university (17th), McGill University, according to the website.
The cities were ranked on four categories: student mix, quality of living, employer activity and affordability. Montreal scored especially high in the quality of living category, with a score of 93/100.
Montreal’s high ranking was strongly influenced by its student mix.
The student mix is based on the amount of domestic students compared to the city’s population. It also accounts for the amount of international students compared to the overall number of students. If a city has a higher number of students, the city will therefore have better accommodations for them.
Montreal, with a population over 3.5 million, has a “hybrid” culture as a “French-speaking city in a largely English-speaking nation” which has lead to mass immigration from all over the world in the past decades, the website read. This culture is world-renowned for its many international festivals such as Just For Laughs, jazz and film festivals, along with its popular indie music scene.
Montreal’s high ranking is also relient on on the city’s quality of living, which according to QS is one of the best in Canada.
Besides Montreal, of the 50 cities listed, two other Canadian cities made the cut: Toronto (26th overall) and Vancouver (31st).
The highest ranked city for students was Paris, France, which scored high on quality of living and their exceptional employer activity for students.
Other top cities were London, England; Boston, United States; Melbourne Australia; and Vienna, Austria.
Ottawa did not make the list of 50 cities, even though it is home to two universities and was ranked 14th on the Mercer Quality of Living Survey of worldwide cities, which is the same survey the QS rankings based their “Quality Living” ranks on.
