Propelled by its leadership as a key partner for community, business and industry, the University of Alberta has placed 10th in the world and second in Canada in the latest Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
This Top 10 finish was anchored by world-class performances across several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Notably, the university earned a perfect score of 100 and secured the top spot for the second consecutive year in SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).
The SDGs are the United Nations' call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
The success in SDG 9 highlights the U of A's powerful commercial impact. Compared with participating Canadian peers, the university secured the second-highest number of active spinoffs, ranked third for patents citing its research, and placed third for industry-funded research income per academic staff member.
Bob Summers, academic director of the U of A Sustainability Council, says maintaining a Top 10 global ranking for what is now a fourth consecutive year speaks to the importance of sustainability across the university.
"In an increasingly dynamic global landscape, this consistency demonstrates that our efforts to integrate sustainability into the fabric of our teaching, research and outreach are deeply embedded in our institutional identity," says Summers. "We are incredibly proud to see our collective, ongoing work reflected on the global stage once again."
The university also proved its research reaches far beyond the Canadian prairies, securing sixth in the world for SDG 14: Life Below Water with a score of 93. This result was buoyed by the strength of the university's Water Management Plan, which focuses on water conservation; research done in the Fisheries & Aquatic Conservation Lab; and programming and outreach on freshwater ecosystems and other water-related topics through the Tracking Change program.
Other cornerstones in forming the core metric for the university's elite global placement included ranking 15th globally for SDG 2: Zero Hunger, scoring a highly competitive 44th globally in SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals and earning a top 100 placement in SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
The latest data highlights a university-wide upward trajectory. The preliminary data reveal that the U of A improved its standing across multiple sustainability sectors, ranking in the top 100 for 10 SDGs.
Maintaining a Top 10 global status is becoming a signature tradition for the Edmonton-based institution. Out of a pool of 1,603 participating international institutions, the U of A achieved an overall score of 96 out of 100.
The strong showing in the 2026 Impact Rankings follows recent success in several other prominent global rankings. The U of A ranked 96th in the world and fourth in Canada, according to the 2027 QS World University Rankings, released last week. This marks the third year in a row that the U of A has ranked among the global Top 100. The university's highest-ranked indicator this year was sustainability, coming in at 74th worldwide based on the 2026 QS Sustainability Rankings.
In March, the university doubled the number of its Top 10 subjects in the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject, with Petroleum Engineering, Mineral and Mining Engineering, Sports-Related Subjects, and Nursing all placing among the Top 10 globally. All told, 21 individual subjects ranked among the global Top 100, up from 18 last year.
