Three schools consistently lead the pack when it comes to higher education in Canada, according to Maclean’s.

The magazine’s latest ranking of Canadian universities hits newsstands Thursday, with McGill, Mount Alison and Simon Fraser all returning to the top spot in their respective categories.

It’s the sixth year in a row for McGill in the “medical doctoral” category for undergraduate education at schools with a range of PhD programs, research and medical schools.

In the “comprehensive” category — schools with significant research activity and a wide range of programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels — Simon Fraser took the top honours for the third time.

And for the fourth year, Mount Alison topped the “primarily undergraduate” category.

The rankings, devoured by soon-to-be high school grads and their parents alike, are criticized by some for their methodology, which have largely relied on surveys filled out by the schools themselves.

The magazine has revised its approach in recent years to include data from Statistics Canada, federal funding agencies, and information on university websites.