The University of Calgary was ranked as the nation’s top campus when it comes to sustainability, according to a new index released by Corporate Knights in October. It received high scores on a number of key performance indicators, including water management, sustainable investing and green certified building space.
Following closely behind in second place was McGill University, bolstered by green purchasing policies, effective waste management and sustainable commuting practices. Wilfrid Laurier University, MacEwan University and Dalhousie University rounded out the top five.
Academic institutions from five provinces were featured in the Top 10, including three each from British Columbia and Ontario.
| Rank | Institution | Province | Final score (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Calgary | Alberta | 76.00 |
| 2 | McGill University | Quebec | 75.22 |
| 3 | Wilfrid Laurier University | Ontario | 71.97 |
| 4 | MacEwan University | Alberta | 71.48 |
| 5 | Dalhousie University | Nova Scotia | 68.79 |
| 6 | University of British Columbia | British Columbia | 68.51 |
| 7 | Simon Fraser University | British Columbia | 67.62 |
| 8 | University of Victoria | British Columbia | 65.41 |
| 9 | Western University | Ontario | 60.26 |
| 10 | University of Ontario Institute of Technology | Ontario | 59.34 |
All data for the index was sourced from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Seventy-one colleges and universities across Canada have filed reports with STARS over the past five years, although colleges were not included in the ranking universe for the Corporate Knights index this year.
In total, 13 indicators were used for this year’s ranking: building area management, clean air management, green certified building space, environment friendly dining certification, clean energy produced, Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool score, green purchases on cleaning products, green purchases on office paper, green transportation, smart commuting, waste management, water management and investing sustainably.
A more detailed methodology can be accessed here.
Click here to go back to the ranking landing page.
