Canoeing has been an optional sport at the Universiade since 1987 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. After this, canoeing was an optional sport only at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russian Federation.
Editions
| Games | Year | Host city | Best nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| XIV | 1987 | Zagreb, Yugoslavia |  Romania
|
| XXVII | 2013 | Kazan, Russia |  Russia
|
Medal table
Last updated after the 2013 Summer Universiade
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Russia (RUS) | 10 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
| 2 |  Belarus (BLR) | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| 3 |  Romania (ROM) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 4 |  Poland (POL) | 3 | 4 | 10 | 17 |
| 5 |  Lithuania (LTU) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 |  Soviet Union (URS) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 7 |  Hungary (HUN) | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 8 |  Portugal (POR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 |  Germany (GER) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 Ukraine (UKR) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 11 |  Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 14 |  Italy (ITA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
 Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 16 |  Serbia (SRB) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 17 |  Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 |  Slovakia (SVK) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 |  Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Uzbekistan (UZB) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Yugoslavia (YUG) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (22 entries) | 37 | 37 | 38 | 112 | |
