The 2025 Scholasticide Response University Rankings have been updated and expanded to 17 universities across Canada. Most Canadian universities with active student-led Palestine solidarity movements have now been ranked on their responsiveness to scholasticide in Gaza.

Thompson Rivers University tops the list as most responsive, followed by Simon Fraser University and the University of Windsor. The least responsive are the University of Toronto, Concordia University, and the University of Alberta which ranks last.

“This ranking is helpful for showing the small differences in generally dismal lack of institutional response to what more and more people recognize as genocide in Gaza. The public deserve to know how public funds at Canadian universities are supporting the crime of crimes.” — Miriam Bergman, a student organizer

Findings

Canadian universities are ranked below, from most responsive to scholasticide to least:

1. Thompson Rivers University
2. Simon Fraser University
3. University of Windsor
4. Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
5. McGill University
6. McMaster University
7. Emily Carr University of Art and Design
8. Memorial University
9. Langara College
10. Carleton University
11. University of Waterloo
12. University of Guelph
13. University of Ottawa
14. University of British Columbia
15. University of Toronto
16. Concordia University
17. University of Alberta

The universities were analyzed via a quantitative survey which tracked over 50 subcategories of response universities could have taken to the scholasticide in Gaza. Possible responses included divesting from companies complicit in grievous violations of international law, supporting Palestinian scholars and educational programs, or upholding student rights. All the universities achieved less than 50 of the 100 total points they could have earned.

The breakdown of the rankings by category is summarized below:

All the universities had received failing grades prior to scaling, so the letter grades above were determined out of 60 instead of 100 according to the following conversion chart:

The rationale and methodology for the ranking are available in our previous post.

Call for boycott of Canadian universities

Most Canadian postsecondary institutions are trying to attract students escaping the crushing attacks against academic freedom in the United States. For these students to make sound decisions about where to go, this ranking helps them determine which schools are safer for students who support justice in Palestine. At a time when Canadian universities are struggling with significant declines in undergraduate enrollment and some of the lowest international student applications numbers on record, the last thing they need is to be seen as supporting genocide, scholasticide, and oppression. However, the same factors - complicity in genocide, student repression, police brutality, weaponization of visa status - that would lead incoming students to avoid US universities are also evident at Canadian universities.

“It is ludicrous that we as students have to advocate so hard for our universities to comply with the Rome Statue. And even more ridiculous that we face repression for doing so.” — May Phim, a student organizer

The vulnerability of incoming students would further be compounded by the cap on international student enrollment and lack of regulation of international student tuition in Canada. These put upward pressure on tuition rates and housing and sundry fees under the control of administrations looking to address funding shortfalls.

Students at Canadian universities are thus advising potential incoming students to boycott Canadian universities and instead choose more affordable and better quality educations at overseas institutions.

The 2025 Scholasticide Response University Rankings is being circulated internationally and will be updated periodically to track progress made by Canadian universities.