Dalhousie University is the largest university in Atlantic Canada and home to 56 Canada Research Chairs. Key research areas include healthy people, communities and populations; clean technology, energy and the environment; a sustainable ocean; food security; and culture, society and community development. Each area is supported by expertise in big data, innovation and entrepreneurship. Dal believes in giving undergrads access to research opportunities with experts. A large co-op program provides workplace experience, and all programs offer experiential learning.

“Dalhousie has everything you would look for in a large university, but with the community feeling that comes from a smaller institution,” says president Deep Saini. “It is research intensive, but simultaneously focused on teaching and student experience.”

The main campus is located in the heart of Halifax’s historic South End; two other downtown campuses are adjacent to Spring Garden Road, close to pubs, cafés and restaurants. A campus in Truro, N.S.—about an hour from Halifax—is home to the only agriculture program in Atlantic Canada. Halifax gets a significant amount of fog throughout the year, but the main campus, which combines historic stone buildings with contemporary architecture, is warm and welcoming.