McGill University is once again the top Canadian university in the medical-doctoral category of the annual rankings issued by Maclean’s magazine.

It’s the fourth year in a row that McGill heads the rankings. The University of Toronto moved up from last year’s fourth-place slot to tie with Queen’s University for second, with the tie pushing the University of British Columbia into fourth.

In the comprehensive category, which includes universities with significant research programs and a wide array of both undergraduate and graduate programs, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University tied for first. In the mainly undergraduate category, Mount Allison University topped the list for the second year.

A number of universities continue to boycott the magazine’s rankings by refusing to provide information, according to a report by the Canwest news service.

For its part, Maclean’s says it is continuing its mission to provide basic information to help students and families in the choice of a university.

The magazine also sought the opinions of university officials, high-school principals, and business and community leaders for their views of how universities perform. That reputational ranking put the University of Waterloo firmly at the top in three categories, including “best overall university.” —Karen Birchard