McGill University is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university. Founded in 1821, McGill was chartered during the British colonial era, 46 years before the Canadian Confederation, making it one of the oldest universities in Canada.

In the Maclean's 21st Annual University Ranking (2011), McGill was ranked 1st in Canada among all institutions offering medical and doctoral degrees, maintaining this ranking for the seventh year in a row. As of 2011, McGill ranked 1st in Canada and 17th in the world in the QS World University Rankings.

With almost 215,000 living alumni worldwide, students and professors at McGill have been recognized in fields ranging from the arts and sciences, to business, politics, and sports. Notable alumni include eleven Nobel Laureates, one hundred and thirty-two Rhodes Scholars, three astronauts, two Canadian prime ministers, eleven justices of the Canadian Supreme Court, three foreign leaders, nine Academy Award winners, three Pulitzer Prize winners, and twenty-eight Olympic medalists.

The main campus is set upon 32 hectares (79 acres) at the foot of Mount Royal in Downtown Montreal. A second campus, the Macdonald Campus, is situated on 6.5 square kilometres (2.5 sq mi)) of fields and forested land in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, 30 km (19 mi) west of the downtown campus. With 21 faculties and professional schools, McGill offers degrees and diplomas in over 300 fields of study, including medicine and law. Although the language of instruction is English, students have the right to submit any graded work in English or in French, except when learning a particular language is an objective of the course. Approximately 34,000 students attend McGill, with international students comprising one-fifth of the student population.