Two Canadian universities among top 10 on prestigious global ranking
Two Canadian universities placed high on a prestigious global ranking assessing schools’ sustainability impacts.
Times Higher Education (THE) released its eighth annual list evaluating 100 universities’ progress on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It took into consideration a school’s performance in four areas, including research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.
“Universities that take part step forward to submit themselves to an extensive and rigorous assessment on how they are contributing to each and any of the SDGs – through their teaching, their research, their outreach to businesses and communities, and through the stewardship of their own resources, including their estates and their people,” reads a statement from THE’s chief global affairs officer, Phil Baty.
In 2026, Canada has two universities that cracked the top 10 among 100 educational institutions around the world.
Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., nabbed the fourth spot globally and the number one spot in North America.
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According to the ranking, Queen’s ranked highest on SDG 2, which is zero hunger. It placed just below Western Sydney University in Australia and beat out Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The University of Alberta (U of A) managed to tie for the 10th spot globally with National Taiwan University. The schools shared the number one spot on SDG 9, which is industry, innovation, and infrastructure.
In North America, the U of A placed second, just above Western University, which is in 12th place globally. Only two universities from the United States made the top 10 North American schools in the sustainability impact ratings: Arizona State University and Michigan State University.
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Canada’s university ranking regulars — University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and McGill University — did not make it on to the ranking at all.
However, Simon Fraser University in B.C. tied for 52nd place alongside The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Leeds. Another western school that made the list is the University of Victoria in 27th place.
In Ontario, McMaster made the top 20 in 18th place, and York University tied with the University of Pretoria in South Africa for 78th place.
The number one spot on the global list went to the University of Manchester this year, ending the four-year run in first place of Western Sydney University in Australia.
Check out the full ranking.