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Queen’s University

Queen’s University

MNU Co-ordinator:  Laura Esford (es[email protected])
Website:  http://www.queensu.ca/
Queen’s Indigenous Viewbook: Link to Viewbook

Photos of campus in the fall

Established by Royal Charter in 1841, Queen’s University is one of Canada’s leading universities. Based in Kingston, Ontario, the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings ranked Queen’s University first in Canada and fifth in the world in its global ranking of universities advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) locally and globally.

Queen’s University is situated on the territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek. Our community learns, explores, studies, and gathers on these lands while acknowledging that this land has a longer history, one that predates the establishment of the earliest European colonies, and one that continues to develop in collaboration with Indigenous peoples to this day.

Queen’s University has seven Faculties and Schools:

  • Faculty of Arts and Science (32 departments and schools)
  • Smith School of Business
  • Faculty of Education
  • Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (11 programs)
  • School of Graduate Studies (includes School of Urban and Regional Planning)
  • Faculty of Health Sciences (includes Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Rehabilitation Therapy)
  • Faculty of Law

Enrolment and Student Success (2020-21)

  • Queen’s is home to students from over 100 countries.
  • Full-time undergraduate students: 19,480
  • Full-time graduate students, including law and professional programs: 6,227
  • Other (part-time, post-graduate medical, distance education): 5,137
  • 88.7%: the academic average of the incoming undergraduate class.
  • 94.7%: first year retention rate, the average among Canada’s U15 is 90.1%.
  • 91.8% graduate and professional program completion rate, the average among Canada’s U15 is 84.2%.

A Prominent Community Environment

Queen’s University’s campus-based university and significant number of student clubs contribute to a welcoming and lively community.

  • Queen’s has the highest number of student clubs per capita of any university in Canada.
  • 95% of the student population has moved to campus from outside of Kingston.
  • 90% of first-year students live in residence.
  • 85% of students live within a 15-minute walk to campus.
  • 63% of the food on campus is locally sourced, in partnership with 27 Ontario and Quebec farms.
  • Kingston has more restaurants per capita than any other city in Canada.
  • There are dedicated supports for Indigenous students, a hub for student-led EDII initiatives, and an enhanced International Student Centre.

It’s easy to see why the BBC named Kingston one of the top five university towns in the world!

Research Highlights

Queen’s is a member of the prestigious U15 group of research-intensive universities. In 2020, Queen’s University supported collaborative projects of local and global importance:

  • 20+ projects across disciplines investigating social and medical COVID solutions (Rapid Response Funding).
  • 2,100 investigators exploring treatments that give people with cancer longer, better quality lives (Canadian Cancer Trials Group).
  • 70+ science or tech-based companies and 150+ women and Indigenous women entrepreneurs working locally in Eastern Ontario (WE-CAN Project).
  • 12 high risk, high reward, complex projects with interdisciplinary teams not eligible for traditional funding opportunities. (Wicked Ideas Competition)

Queen’s university is the 8th highest funded institution in Canada, ranks 5th in research intensity, and continues to rank 2nd in Canada for awards per faculty member (2021 Maclean’s University Rankings). In 2015, Queen’s Professor Emeritus Arthur McDonald, from the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, was named a Nobel Prize in Physics co-winner for his research contributions that found neutrinos change identities.

International Programs and Mobility

Queen’s is honored to have a global presence, with a campus in Canada and the Bader International Study Centre (BISC) at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, UK. The BISC provides a pastoral community where international students, scholars, and professionals study in small class sizes, hold international conferences, critically evaluate global issues, and participate in experiential learning programs. The BISC proudly hosts undergraduate students from Canada and around the world with a first-year program and six specialized upper-year programs. And, with than 220 exchange partners in 40 countries, Queen’s University welcomes 600+ exchange students each year on campus in Kingston, Canada.