About McGill University
What is McGill University?
McGill University "is one of Canada's best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the leading universities in the world." It is "a public university, founded in 1821", with 40,531 students in fall 2025, 28,167 of them undergraduates. International students "from more than 150 countries make up nearly 30% of McGill's student body ‒ the highest proportion of any Canadian research university." Ernest Rutherford's Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity was conducted at McGill, and the university counts the artificial blood cell and Plexiglas among the inventions made on its campuses.
Where will I work?
Most staff work on the downtown campus in Montreal, around the James Administration Building at 845 Sherbrooke Street West, or at the teaching hospitals McGill is affiliated with in the city. The Macdonald Campus, home of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue at the western tip of the Island of Montreal, and Campus Outaouais, part of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is in Gatineau. Postings offer "Up to two (2) days of remote work per week where the position permits", and applicants "must be both authorized to work in Canada and willing to work in the province of Quebec at the campus where the position is based / located." McGill "is an English-language university where day to day duties may require English communication both verbally and in writing." The roles listed here are McGill's administrative and support staff positions, the ones whose postings carry the Summer Fridays benefit. Academic, casual and student positions are not listed.
What is the McGill team like?
"As of January 31, 2026, McGill University employs 12,774 staff members across all appointment categories": 8,509 hold academic appointments and 3,879 are administrative and support staff, according to McGill's 2026 University Staffing Report. The same report describes "workforce reduction measures such as position eliminations, attrition, non-renewals and hiring controls" following the financial stabilization measures announced in March 2025, and administrative and support staff numbers fell 4.4% in the year to January 2026. Many support staff are unionized, and their postings give pay on the MUNACA salary scale. McGill says it has been "Voted one of Montreal's top employers for 18 consecutive years", and names "Our paid time-off policy, commitment to equity and diversity, and opportunities for career growth" among the reasons.
Work-Life Balance
Administrative and support staff postings list "Nine (9) "Summer Fridays" - paid days off between the St-Jean Baptiste holiday and Labour Day". McGill HR publishes the dates: in 2026, every Friday from June 26 to August 21, with a tenth Summer Friday taken on December 24 at the start of a paid holiday break that runs to January 1. Where a department needs staff on a Summer Friday, "the summer Friday should be rescheduled, preferably to the following Monday", and "When a staff member takes vacation during the summer schedule, any Friday that falls into the vacation period will not count as a "vacation" day." HR's published schedule covers "non-academic, non-unionized administrative staff"; unionized staff follow their collective agreements, and McGill's postings for unionized support roles list the same nine Summer Fridays. Most administrative postings are 33.75 hours a week; some support, trades and campus-farm roles run 35 to 40.
Perks and Benefits
- Nine paid Summer Fridays between the Saint-Jean-Baptiste holiday and Labour Day
- Paid time off over the December holiday period
- A competitive vacation policy, two personal days and two floating holidays
- Health, dental and life insurance (if eligible)
- A defined contribution pension plan with an employer contribution of up to 10% (if eligible), plus a group RRSP and a TFSA
- A tuition waiver for regular employees and their dependents
- Up to two days of remote work a week where the position permits