Rankings at TMU
TMU is committed to addressing real-world challenges, fostering innovation and building meaningful partnerships.
Our reputation and global reach are essential to fulfilling that mission.
To assess and showcase our local, national, and global impact, TMU participates in select rankings, including Maclean’s, Times Higher Education, and QS. While rankings don’t capture everything we do, they support our efforts to attract top faculty, recruit students driven to build a more sustainable world, engage research partners, and secure funding for institutional priorities. Our strategic approach focuses on improving performance in key areas of research output, teaching and learning outcomes and sustainability, to strengthen our position and amplify our impact.
University rankings play an important role in attracting students and faculty, strengthening collaborations with institutions and industry, and demonstrating the impact of our work. At TMU, our commitment to rankings is rooted in our academic mission and aligned with our values and strategic priorities.
- Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, provost and vice-president, academic
The Maclean’s University Rankings (external link) assess Canadian universities on a variety of indicators grouped under five broad categories: students, faculty, resources, student support and reputation.
In the Best Comprehensive Universities (external link, opens in new window) rankings 2025, TMU ranked:
- 9th in best overall
- 6th in operating budget
- 4th in the reputational survey
- 1st in Ontario in student services (2nd in Canada)
In the Maclean’s Best Universities by Reputation (external link, opens in new window) rankings 2025, among Canadian universities, TMU ranked:
- 14th in best overall
- 20th in highest quality
- 12th in most innovative
- 11th in leaders of tomorrow
Times Higher Education is one of the world’s leading university rankings organizations. It evaluates universities on research and teaching, reputation, and contributions to sustainable development.
Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
The THE Impact Rankings recognizes universities that excel across multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and showcase their commitment to addressing the world's most pressing challenges, including environmental sustainability, social inclusion, economic growth and partnerships.
TMU continues to make significant progress in advancing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (external link) , as recognized by 2024’s Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings (external link) . TMU was ranked among the top 15 per cent of 2,154 universities evaluated worldwide, demonstrating its global impact on sustainable development and efforts to drive positive social, economic and environmental change.
Ranked Top 10 in Canada for graduate employability (external link)
Times Higher Education's Global University Employability Ranking 2025
SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
Ranked 88th in the world on SDG 6, TMU’s achievement in this area is largely attributed to the contributions of Urban Water TMU, a multidisciplinary consortium of researchers solving complex urban water challenges through transdisciplinary research, strong ties to partners through external networks, and collaborative action. Urban Water TMU has a research facility that explores a variety of freshwater issues.
SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
TMU tied for 78th place for its work to reduce inequalities and remove barriers to access. Through the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, significant progress has been made to dismantle systemic barriers to support and empower all members of TMU’s community. We scored particularly highly for the proportion of and supports for students and employees with disabilities.
SDG 13: Climate action
TMU tied in 100th place for restorative climate action, demonstrating our continued commitment to championing sustainability. Through the Sustainability Office, we’re doing our part to tackle climate change, reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions, and educate and raise awareness about climate change. TMU recently launched its first Sustainability Action Plan to empower our campus community to take tangible steps towards a sustainable future.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
TMU continues to strengthen its academic and scholarly, research and creative (SRC) excellence, as highlighted in the 2025 THE World University Rankings (external link) . Our position among the world’s best universities demonstrates TMU’s contributions to SRC and growing reputation in higher education.
Research excellence
TMU was recognized for the strength of its research environment, with strong results in the areas of research productivity (which measures publication output), research excellence (which measures high-citation publications), and research influence (which measures how publications are cited in high-quality research). Together, these results demonstrate the thriving research culture and increased SRC activity at our university.
Innovation
TMU’s contributions to innovation were also noted, with a particularly high score on the patents metric. This metric highlights how TMU is supporting technology transfer and promoting economic growth.
Times Higher Education Subject Rankings
THE also releases Subject Rankings (external link) , which evaluates universities across 11 disciplines. Highlights for TMU include:
- Law: TMU ranked in the top 250 universities worldwide, despite the Lincoln Alexander Faculty of Law's first cohort of students graduating in 2023. LASL’s research contributions are particularly notable, with TMU ranking 3rd in Canada for Research Quality in Law.
- TMU ranked in the top 400 universities worldwide in areas ranging from Computer Science to Psychology to Business and Economics, demonstrating the breadth of the university’s strong academic programming and research achievements.
- The Ted Rogers School of Management’s strong ties to industry were noted with TMU’s place among the top 10 Canadian universities in the Industry category for Business and Economics.
Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) analyzes universities on a global scale, assessing a variety of areas to measure employability, sustainability performance and overall reputation.
QS World University Rankings
TMU’s excellence in scholarly, research and creative (SRC) is also highlighted in the 2025 QS World University Rankings (external link) , where we are among the top 15 per cent of universities evaluated worldwide.
TMU’s ability to attract and retain top-tier international faculty members has been recognized as an area of strength. This diverse group of educators brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that enriches the school’s academic environment and contributes to its culture of innovation and international collaboration.
TMU has also been recognized for excellence in research output, with a high number of citations per faculty member. This metric highlights our impactful SRC activity, contributing to advancements across disciplines and reinforcing our reputation in scholarly, research and creative activities.
The university also performed well in employment outcomes for graduates. This success reflects TMU's robust industry connections and highlights our effective approach to preparing students for a competitive job market, ensuring they are well-equipped to excel in their chosen careers.
QS Subject Rankings
In addition to the overall world university ranking, QS also releases its Subject Rankings, assessing universities in 60 subject areas. TMU has distinguished itself in several subject areas, including:
- Art and Design: TMU ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide.
- Architecture/Built Environment: TMU ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide.
- Communication and Media Studies: TMU ranked in the top 250 universities worldwide.
Research Infosource is a leading source of ranking information on research universities, hospitals, colleges, and companies. TMU regularly performs well in the comprehensive universities category in Research Infosource’s annual list of Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities.
On the 2024 list (external link) assessing performance in the 2022-23 fiscal year, TMU ranked fifth among Canadian comprehensive universities in both corporate research income and growth in corporate research income, and placed 4th for research funding per graduate student.
The 2024 results also included a Spotlight on University Artificial Intelligence Publications 2018-2022 (external link) . During this period, TMU ranked fifth among Canadian comprehensive universities for AI publications, third for AI publications as a percentage of all TMU research publications, and second for growth of AI publications, with an increase of 205 per cent during this five-year period.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
In addition to submissions to annual rankings, TMU is also committed to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which together represent a call to action to improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
