Mohawk College has been recognized in the top-ten in its category and maintained its gold rating in the international 2025 Sustainable Campus Index, based on the college's most recent 3-year STARS report, as managed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
The Sustainable Campus Index recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities overall and in 13 impact areas, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Mohawk College first received its gold STARS rating in 2019.
In the past year, Mohawk College launched the School of Climate Action and was the first institution in North America to achieve Responsible Futures accreditation for its sustainability efforts by Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK). The framework and accreditation program is designed to help universities and colleges adopt sustainable teaching, learning strategies, and policies. Mohawk College's Responsible Futures accreditation is featured on page 52 of the 2025 Sustainability Campus Index Report (PDF).
The college's sustainability team manages over 30 programs and initiatives each year that are dedicated to embedding sustainable practices into operations and programming across all Mohawk College campuses and providing learning opportunities in sustainability for students. As well, the opening of The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation in September 2018 introduced students to one of the largest zero-carbon institutional buildings in Canada, meaning there are no net greenhouse gas emissions associated with the building's operations.
The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS®) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS is intended to engage and recognize the full spectrum of higher education institutions, from community colleges to research universities. The framework encompasses long-term sustainability goals for already high-achieving institutions, as well as entry points of recognition for institutions that are taking first steps toward sustainability.
