(Files by Brendan Pawliw-MyPGNow)

UNBC continues to rank as a top university of its size according to the latest rankings from Macleans Magazine.

The school placed second in the Primarily Undergraduate category in the yearly ranking of Canadian universities.

New Brunswick-based Mount Allison University finished first while Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario was third.

According to President Dr. Daniel Weekes, the university continues to gain traction across Canada.

“The one thing that you don’t ever want to be in a university is the best-kept secret anywhere and I think the fact that we are moving up in reputation speaks to the fact that UNBC and the quality of work that we do here are getting attention right across the country.”

As for what stood out the most to Weekes, that was an easy call.

“We came out number one in student awards and that was particularly gratifying and I think again it speaks to the quality of education that is faculty are providing to our students and I think that is an outstanding result.”

He admits while the national recognition is important, they don’t shape their entire operations around the rankings.

“We’re a bit careful about that, we don’t chase these rankings. What we do here is that we have a belief in the program and a belief in the mission, vision, and values and those are the things that drive our initiatives going forward.”

“Where the rankings become helpful is the things that we choose to really pursue and excel at. If we are doing well and the rankings reflect that then we know the kind of efforts we made are having a visible impact.”

It’s the sixth consecutive year the school has finished in the top two in its category to go with a 12-year reign in the top three.

Macleans also gave UNBC high marks in promoting Indigenous visibility (second) and mental health services (second).