University of Toronto vs McGill University

University of Toronto vs McGill University — at a glance

	University of Toronto	McGill University
Country / City	Canada, Toronto, ON	Canada, Montreal, QC
QS World rank	#25	#29
Tuition (intl)	CAD 58k/yr	CAD 28k/yr
IELTS	7	6.5
TOEFL	93	90
GRE	Optional	Recommended
Acceptance rate	43%	46%
Intl students	28%	30%
Intakes	Fall (Sep)	Fall (Sep)
Top programs	MSc Computer Science, MEng, Master of Management Analytics	MSc Computer Science, MMA, MBA (Desautels)

Which should you choose?

Choose University of Toronto if you want a more selective brand name and value Computer Science & Medicine. Choose McGill University for Medicine & Law. The best choice depends on your target program, budget and post-study plans — run both through the free predictor.

University of Toronto or McGill University — reading the differences

• Rank. University of Toronto sits 4 places above McGill University (#25 against #29). Treat that as a coarse signal: QS rank is built largely from institution-wide research output and reputation surveys, so a gap of this size says very little about the department you would actually join, and nothing at all about teaching on your specific programme.
• Selectivity. About 43% at University of Toronto against 46% at McGill University — University of Toronto is the harder admission of the two. These are institution-level figures, so a competitive department inside the more accessible university can still be tighter than the headline gap suggests.
• English requirement. IELTS 7 at University of Toronto against 6.5 at McGill University. If you are applying to both, prepare to the higher of the two — University of Toronto — because a score built for the lower bar closes the other door.
• Fees. CAD 58k/yr at University of Toronto; CAD 28k/yr at McGill University. Compare these over the full length of the programme rather than per year, and check what each excludes — bench fees, materials, compulsory insurance and placement costs vary enormously by subject and are rarely in the headline number.

Both are in Canada, so visa route, post-study work rights and living costs are broadly common to the two and drop out of the decision. That is useful: it means the choice really is about programme, department and cost, rather than about country — and those are things you can investigate directly by reading the module lists and emailing the departments.

The comparison that actually decides it. Rank, acceptance rate and fees are the numbers that are easy to publish, which is why every comparison page leads with them. The things that determine whether you finish the degree well are the specific module list, who teaches it, whether there is a placement or industry link where you want to work, and the total cost to a work permit. None of those are in a ranking table, and all of them are answerable in an afternoon by reading two programme pages and sending two emails.