International Students at Canadian Universities: 2025 Counts

Key takeaways

University of Toronto: 27,897 international students in fall 2025, about 27% of 103,140 students
UBC: 18,009 international students in 2025/2026 across its Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
Concordia, the University of Ottawa and the University of Waterloo each reported between 6,700 and 8,800
We did not find a comparable total count for some large universities, such as McGill, York and Université de Montréal, so this is not a complete ranking
Statistics Canada estimates international university students fell 17% from 2023/2024 to 2025/2026

International students at Canadian universities, fall 2025

These counts come from each school’s own website or reports, checked October 10, 2026. They go from largest to smallest. Some large schools do not publish a count we can compare, so this is not a full ranking (see below).

University	International students	Total students	International share	Notes
University of Toronto	27,897	103,140	27.0%	Fall 2025, three campuses
University of British Columbia	18,009	72,100	25.0%	2025/2026 session year; Vancouver 15,957, Okanagan 2,052. UBC’s report gives the share as 24% in one place and 25% in another
Concordia University	8,781	43,922	20.0%	2025-26, students in credit courses
University of Ottawa	8,115	49,864	16.3%	Fall 2025; our sum of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral counts
University of Waterloo	6,701	41,075	16.3%	Fall 2025; our sum from the university’s headcount data file, includes affiliated colleges
University of Manitoba	6,246	31,922	19.6%	November 1, 2025
Simon Fraser University	5,256	30,003	17.5%	Fall 2025; our sum of undergraduate and graduate counts
Toronto Metropolitan University	3,341	43,765	7.6%	November 1, 2025; students paying international fees; our sum
Queen’s University	3,199	28,561	11.2%	November 1, 2025; full-time only, includes exchange students
Dalhousie University	2,928	21,103	13.9%	December 1, 2025; excludes University of King’s College
University of Windsor	2,732	15,980	17.1%	Fall 2025; our sum of full-time and part-time visa students
University of Saskatchewan	2,236	23,888	9.4%	Fall 2025 census; includes exchange and visiting research students

We worked out the international share: students from abroad divided by all students. A school’s own share can be different if it uses another total.

What the table shows

Toronto and UBC had 45,906 international students between them. That is more than the next six schools in the table put together (38,440).
The top shares were at Toronto (27.0%), UBC (25.0%) and Concordia (20.0%).
Some mid-sized schools, such as Manitoba and Windsor, had shares above 17%.

Universities with fall 2024 counts only

Two large Ontario schools had not put out a fall 2025 total when we checked. Their latest official counts:

University	International students	Total students	Notes
McMaster University	5,697	37,256	November 1, 2024 (Fact Book 2025)
Western University	5,445	42,978	2024–2025; full-time international students, includes affiliated colleges

A fall 2024 count may be higher than the same school’s fall 2025 count. That is because the number of these students fell across Canada. For example, Dalhousie’s count fell 20.3% in one year, and Waterloo’s data file shows 7,627 in fall 2024.

Why some big universities are missing

This page lists only exact counts put out by the school itself. For some large schools, we found only a percent, a part count or no count at all:

McGill University: 5,738 international students in a first degree in fall 2025 (21.7% of those students). Its Quick Facts page says 27% of all its students in fall 2025 were international. But it gives no total count.
University of Alberta: 3,113 international grad students in fall 2025. The count for first-degree students is not public.
University of Calgary, Université de Montréal and York University: we did not find a fall 2025 count of these students on their websites when we checked.

So this is not a full top 10. A school missing from the table may have more students from abroad than one that is listed.

Why counts are hard to compare

Each school decides who counts as international and when to count. The main ways they differ:

Visa or fee status. Most schools count students by visa or citizenship. Toronto Metropolitan University counts students who pay international fees.
Full-time or all students. Queen’s and Western count full-time students only. Others count part-time students too.
Exchange students. Some count incoming exchange students. Others do not say.
Date. Schools count on different dates, from early October to December 1.
Campuses. Toronto and UBC count all their campuses as one.

A gap of a few hundred students between schools may only come from these choices.

How university numbers changed after the cap

Statistics Canada estimates that full-time international students at public universities fell from 222,064 in 2023/2024 to 183,616 in 2025/2026. That is a 17% drop. Bachelor’s and master’s students each fell 18%. PhD students fell 11%. Colleges fell much more, by 42%. See international student numbers.

Since January 1, 2026, master’s and doctoral students at public universities no longer need a provincial attestation letter. Bachelor’s students usually still do. See the study permit cap and PAL.

How to use this list

Many students from abroad can mean more student clubs, more help on campus and more classmates from your country. It does not tell you about the quality of teaching, cost or job results. Some next steps:

Compare fees in tuition fees in Canada and each school’s fee page.
Check rankings with their methods in Canadian university rankings.
Compare popular fields in popular university fields for international students.
Confirm the school is on IRCC’s designated learning institutions list before you apply.

Common questions

Which Canadian university has the most international students?

Of the schools that publish an exact count, the University of Toronto reported the most: 27,897 international students in fall 2025, out of 103,140 students. Some large schools do not publish a count we can compare.

How many international students does UBC have?

UBC reported 18,009 international students in 2025/2026: 15,957 at the Vancouver campus and 2,052 at the Okanagan campus.

How many international students does McGill have?

McGill reported 5,738 international students in a first degree in fall 2025. Its Quick Facts page says 27% of its students are international. But it does not publish a total count.

Are international student numbers at universities falling?

Yes, on average. Statistics Canada estimates that full-time international students at universities fell 17% from 2023/2024 to 2025/2026.

Why is my university not on the list?

This page lists only schools that publish an exact count of these students. For some large schools, we found only a percent or no count we can compare.

Sources

Checked against these sources on October 10, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

International students at Canadian universities: official counts for fall 2025