Aerial photo of the Burnaby, B.C. campus of Simon Fraser University. (Wikimedia Commons/Soggybread/HO)

Universities in Western Canada are among the best schools in the country, according to Maclean's magazine's annual post secondary rankings released Thursday.

British Columbia's Simon Fraser University takes the top spot, same as last year, in the comprehensive category — for schools that have a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs — followed by the University of Victoria in second place, and Ontario's University of Waterloo in third.

The magazine ranked universities across the country in three categories: comprehensive; medical doctor, for schools that have a solid selection of PhD programs and have medical schools; and primarily undergraduate, for institutions that tend to be smaller and have a wide selection of undergrad programs.

In the medical doctor category, Montreal's McGill University takes the cake and the University of British Columbia lands in the second spot.

University of Toronto has long dominated the rankings, however it dropped from second to third this year.

As for the undergraduate list, Mount Allison in Sackville, N.B., is first — for the 16th year in a row — University of Northern British Columbia second, and Alberta's University of Lethbridge in third.