According to a prestigious new school ranking, the major university in Alberta is leading the continent in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Times Higher Education released its list of the world’s leading universities in tackling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and the University of Alberta placed sixth globally, climbing a spot from its previous placement.
Not only does that place the U of A at number one in Canada, but it’s also the top spot in North America. Universities in Australia, Denmark, and the United Kingdom rounded up the top five globally.
The ranking, which evaluated 2,152 universities from 125 regions, is the only one to judge universities’ contribution to all 17 of the SDGs and assesses their commitment to sustainability across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.
U of A ranked the highest in the following SDG categories, which contributed to its overall ranking:
- Life Below Water (second)
- Zero Hunger (fourth)
- Life on Land (seventh)
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (ninth)
Times Higher Education
Other Canadian universities to make the top 100 included Queen’s University in Ontario, which placed eighth; the University of Victoria, which placed 13th; Simon Fraser University, which placed 17th; and Université Laval, which placed 19th.
The U of A has been climbing the ranks in other prestigious university rankings — earlier this month, it soared 15 spots to crack the top 100 globally in the 2025 QS Top Universities ranking.