Canada has surpassed the United States in university research, as revealed in a recent global report on higher education.

Among the top five countries in the MeasuresHE Country 100 report (2026 edition), Canada secured the third position in research, while the U.S. ranked 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 reflects the quality and global impact of research publications from each country’s educational institutions between 2020 and 2024. It considers factors such as citation frequency and contribution to knowledge breakthroughs.

Additionally, Canada outperformed the U.S. in academic integrity (100 vs. 99.6) and international integration (84.0 vs. 60.4).

Methodology

The report evaluated 25 metrics across seven pillars to determine each country’s overall score. These pillars include Research, Global standing, Openness, Academic integrity, Demographics and investment, International integration, and Sustainability.

The Research category, with a weight of 35%, is crucial as it measures national research leadership, impact, and the development of elite academic talent.

Published by MeasuresHE, a specialized higher education analytics firm, on April 28, 2026, this report identifies the top 100 countries for higher education.