Eight cities in BC including Prince George placed in the top 49 best municipalities to study in Canada.
Vancouver was ranked in the upper-echelon in 7th place, while the northern capital was near the bottom at 47th only above Sault. Ste Marie, Ontario and Whitehorse, Yukon.
The survey, done by Hellosafe.ca, focused on four categories such as attractiveness, quality of student life, overall quality of life and academic excellence, and cost of study.
UNBC Interim President, Dr. Geoff Payne isn’t too worried about the ranking and said the school should continue to focus on what it does best.
“You could bend yourself into a pretzel going if we did this like Thompson Rivers or do this like the University of Victoria or Lethbridge – you really need to think about what you do and what are our strengths.”
Payne added while he believes the low-ranking doesn’t do the city or the school justice, there is always room for improvement.
“There should be no part of our university system that we don’t always look at and try to improve and not improve or change or alter because we have done something wrong, it’s about being adaptable and that is what being a good university is.”
“We can never be complacent that everything that we are doing at UNBC can’t be improved upon. We are always evaluating, we are always assessing and we are always adding to or changing in order to meet the needs of the students and what is going to set them up for success.”
“Prince George compared to somewhere like Vancouver is miles away in terms of that cost. The other thing that stood out to me that I reflected on when it comes to our students and when they become graduates and move on, 70% of our graduates stay and work in the north. That to me really shows not only a strong education and an opportunity but an experience that sets them up for success,” added Payne.
Sherbrooke, Quebec ranked as the top city in Canada to study.
Here is a list of all BC cities that were listed:
– Vancouver 7th (13.3/20 score)
– Surrey 16th (12.2/20 score)
– Nanaimo 17th (12/20 score)
– Burnaby 19th (11.9/20 score)
– Abbotsford 21st (11.2/20 score)
– Kamloops/Victoria 27th (10.6/20 score)
– Prince George 47th (8.2/20 score)