University of Toronto isn’t Canada’s top school in this new world university ranking

This new list of the best universities in the world includes a lot of Canadian institutions.

But the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of British Columbia aren’t the top schools, despite typically ranking as the country’s best.

Recently, the 2026 edition of the Sustainability Impact Ratings was released by Times Higher Education.

It assessed how post-secondary schools have advanced sustainability in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which include no poverty, zero hunger, quality education, gender equality, clean water, work and economic growth, sustainable cities, climate action, and other goals.

More than 1,600 universities in countries and territories around the world were ranked as the best universities for sustainable development.

Canada has 20 universities in this global ranking, with two of the country’s schools making the top 10. Also, there are nine Canadian universities in the top 100.

Here are the top five post-secondary schools in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings:

1. University of Manchester (United Kingdom)
2. Griffith University (Australia)
3. Western Sydney University (Australia)
4. Queen’s University (Canada)
5. Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia)

Hanyang University in South Korea is sixth, Hokkaido University in Japan and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Malaysia are tied for seventh, Institut Agro in France is ninth, and National Taiwan University in Taiwan and the University of Alberta in Canada are tied for tenth.

Times Higher Education said that, along with making the top five, Queen’s University is the number one school in the zero hunger category of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Also, the University of Alberta shares the top spot for the industry, innovation and infrastructure goal set by the United Nations.

After those top universities in Canada, Western University is tied for 12th, McMaster University is 18th, the University of Victoria is 27th, Simon Fraser University is tied for 52nd, Université Laval is tied for 68th, York University is tied for 78th, and Dalhousie University is 90th.

There are more Canadian universities further down on the 2026 Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings.

That includes Lakehead University, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Saskatchewan, Wilfred Laurier University, University of Manitoba, Carleton University, Brock University, Thompson Rivers University, Trent University, University of Northern British Columbia and University of Regina.

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