McGill University is one of Canada's best-known institutions of higher learning and the country's leading research-intensive university. With students coming to McGill from about 140 countries, its student body is the most internationally diverse of all the universities in the country. But the main attraction is its long and impressive track record of churning out eminent scientists. Sir Ernest Rutherford’s Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity began a long tradition of McGill innovation, which includes the invention of the world’s first artificial cell and Plexiglas. The university also boasts of a fruitful association with Canada’s first scientist to achieve worldwide recognition, Sir John William Dawson, a geologist, who discovered some of the earliest known reptile specimens while working with another famed geologist Sir Charles Lyell.

Founded way back in 1821, McGill University has since grown from a small college to a bustling university with two campuses, 11 faculties, 300-odd programmes of study and more than 32,000 students. For a student keen on graduating in spatial studies in Canada, this university offers the best possible facilities and environment.

Graduate courses
The Department of Geography at the McGill University offers both BA and BSc degrees in Geography. The programmes include courses in spatial studies, geographic information systems, remote sensing etc. Students keen on specialising in geographic information systems can opt for a BA degree with a minor concentration in GIS. It requires a total of 18 credits. While five courses—an introductory course in geoinformation science, raster geoinformation science, socioeconomic application of GIS, principles of remote sensing and perspectives on GIS analysis are mandatory, the student can choose one course with 3 credit points from a list of six courses, which include remote sensing and interpretation, GIS, fundamentals of computer graphics and environmental decisions. Students, who choose a major concentration in Geography, will have to have 36 credits to complete the course. They can choose statistics and spatial analysis as one of the courses in this programme. The Honours programme in Geography too offers an opportunity for the students to study spatial analysis. The department also offers a Joint Honours programme with a Geography component.
Perhaps, the most interesting of all programmes is the interdisciplinary degree of Bachelor of Arts and Science offered by the department. It is a degree intended for students who want to study a programme offered by Arts and one offered by Science simultaneously. To obtain this degree, the students can combine the Physical Geography option with any major concentration option in the faculty of Arts (except Geography) or with two minor concentrations in the Faculty of Arts (except Geography). If they opt for the former, the required courses include an introductory course on geoinformation science and statistics and spatial analysis. Remote sensing and raster geoinformation science are among the electives.

The BSc programme on the other hand is by and large focussed on Geography. However, if students want to have a GIS component, they have to opt for a BSc programme with a minor concentration in GIS. It gives a good grounding for the students in the fundamentals of remote sensing, GIS and related subjects.