Two B.C. schools just topped a new North American university ranking
Two B.C. post-secondary institutions have landed in the top 10 for sustainability impact in North America for the second year in a row, according to a new university ranking.
In the latest Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings, both the University of Victoria (UVic) and Simon Fraser University (SFU) ranked among the continent’s top schools based on how well they’re addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The university rankings assessed 1,600 institutions from 116 countries, looking at real-world contributions in areas like climate action, innovation, and social equity.
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“The Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings is the world’s most comprehensive framework for evaluating and demonstrating universities’ deep social and economic impacts through their contribution to all 17 of the United Nations’ SDGs,” said Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, in a release.
“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.”
The only global university ranking of its kind, Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings evaluates schools in 18 categories.
Canada has 20 universities ranked in 2026, with nine institutions cracking the top 100 in the world in addressing the United Nations’ SDGs.
University of Victoria
Out of the top 10 universities in North America, eight are Canadian. They include:
- Queen’s University
- University of Alberta
- Western University
- McMaster University
- University of Victoria
- Simon Fraser University
- Université Laval
- York University
Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., is the number four university in the global rankings, and the University of Alberta tied in 10th spot.
UVic landed in 27th place in 2026, and SFU tied for the 52nd ranking.
“It is particularly exciting to see the sheer diversity of success stories when it comes to social and economic impact: this rating system proves that excellence comes in many shapes, sizes and contexts, not just from the traditionally dominant universities of the Global North,” added Baty in a statement about the eighth annual exercise.
“There are examples of excellence right across the world, with notable successes to be found in abundance in all parts of the world.”
The full Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings can be read online.
With files from Daily Hive staff
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