Rankings & Recognition
- QS World University Rankings: The 2021 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings positioned SFU within the top-400 in the world. SFU has since moved up 25 places to land back within the top 300 in the world for 2022 while maintaining its rank as 13th in Canada. In addition, SFU ranked 8th in Canada for citations per faculty and consistently has ranked in the top 200 worldwide for research impact.
- Maclean’s list of comprehensive universities: Simon Fraser University has been named the top comprehensive university, according to Maclean’s Magazine’s prestigious 2023 university rankings, though this is not new news, as the university has ranked number one for 12 of the past 13 years. Among key strengths cited by Maclean’s was SFU’s commitment to sustainability, with a five-year sustainability plan aiming to slash SFU’s carbon footprint and shift half of its energy use to renewable resources by 2025.
- World's Universities with Real Impact: Simon Fraser University is Canada’s top university for innovation and industrial application, as well as number two in the world for entrepreneurial spirit, according to the 2023 World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI) rankings. It is the third consecutive year that SFU has ranked as the top university in Canada in the overall innovation category, as well as for the entrepreneurial spirit and industrial application categories. SFU moved up globally among innovative universities, to 13th in the world — up from 18th in 2022. SFU is the only Canadian university to break into the top 100 overall.
- Times Higher Education: Simon Fraser University is number one for its global impact on sustainable cities and communities—and fifth in the world for its response on climate action—according to the Times Higher Education (THE) 2023 Impact Rankings.
- United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SFU ranked sixth for SDG 11 out of 1,100 institutions in 2021 and was ranked first among 760 institutions in 2020. Driving its top 10 staying power is SFU’s commitment to sustainability, including new university-wide initiatives and approaches laid out in its five-year sustainability plan (SFU 2025).