Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the achievements of the two universities in my riding of Kitchener—Waterloo.
In this year's Maclean's magazine annual ranking of Canadian universities our reputation thrives. The University of Waterloo is considered the best overall comprehensive university and Wilfrid Laurier is the fourth best overall primarily undergraduate university.
U of W is considered the best overall, the most innovative and ranks highest for the leaders of tomorrow. Within comprehensive schools it ranks first for the average entering grade and student awards.
In its category Wilfrid Laurier ranks first in the proportion of students with 75% or higher and second in average entering grade.
Post-secondary education is the key to our future prosperity as a nation. The tangible commitment our Liberal government has included increased funding for granting councils, centres of excellence, improvements to the Canada student loans program, the millennium scholarship fund, research infrastructure renewal and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
I congratulate both universities for their excellent standing in this annual survey and commend them for always striving to be better.