The University of Waterloo is one of Canada’s leading comprehensive universities, with strong teaching and research programs in six faculties: Applied Health Sciences, Arts, Engineering, Environment, Mathematics, and Science.

Four other institutions — St. Jerome’s University, Conrad Grebel University College, Renison University College, and St. Paul's College — are federated or affiliated with the University of Waterloo. Located on the main Waterloo campus, these institutions share in the delivery and administration of academic programs and offer additional residential space for students.

Five respected professional schools are based in the faculties: Accounting and Finance, Architecture, Computer Science, Optometry, and Planning, with a sixth, the School of Pharmacy, that began admitting students in 2008. A program in software engineering is offered jointly by the faculties of Engineering and Mathematics. A program in nanotechnology engineering, a joint venture by the faculties of Engineering and Science, was launched in 2005.

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

With a unique focus on health promotion, wellness, and illness and injury prevention, the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences offers programs in health studies and gerontology, kinesiology, and recreation and leisure studies. Recent initiatives include the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging and new graduate programs in public health; aging, health and well-being; and work and health. A 26,000-square-foot expansion of the Lyle S. Hallman Institute for Health Promotion supports research on population health, active living, cancer prevention and care, health informatics, and workplace injury prevention. In 2005-06 the faculty’s life and social scientists attracted $13.4 million in research funding. The Faculty of Applied Health Sciences is also home to Canada Research Chairs in integrative vascular biology, spine biomechanics and injury prevention, and sensorimotor control.

Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is the largest and most diverse of UW's six faculties. With a strong traditional foundation, we offer programs in the following core areas: creativity and performance; memory, identity and culture; local and global engagement; society, science and technology; business, policy and management; and cognition and behaviour. Our 17 academic units offer nine doctoral programs, 17 master's programs, and 24 honours programs, including the largest arts co-operative education program in the world. Research in the Faculty of Arts is focused on knowledge acquisition, mobilization and broad impact on local, regional and global communities. We are also home to Canada's leading School of Accounting and Finance and the newly established Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Faculty of Engineering

Waterloo’s undergraduate engineering program is Canada’s best. We offer undergraduate programs in the core disciplines of engineering and in architecture as well as in emerging multidisciplinary areas such as mechatronics and nanotechnology. All 5,300 undergraduates are enrolled in our co-operative education program, the world’s largest. The Faculty of Engineering is also home to more than 1,400 graduate students. Twice in the last few years, our students have earned the prestigious NSERC Doctoral Prize. Student teams are an important part of the Faculty of Engineering, and routinely take home top honours. For example, a team of Waterloo students recently fielded the only Canadian entry in the Challenge X Crossover to Sustainable Mobility automotive competition. Our growing research portfolio attracted $32.3 million in research funding in 2005-06. RIM, Dalsa, Sirific Wireless, Handshake VR, and Intelligent Mechatronic Systems are just a few of the companies that were founded by researchers from Waterloo Engineering.

Faculty of Environment

Researchers, students, and staff in the Faculty of Environment are committed to protecting ecological systems, understanding the relationships between human and natural systems, and promoting sustainable communities. The faculty offers programs in environment and business, environment and resource studies, geography, geography and aviation, geomatics, global governance, international development, knowledge integration, local economic development, planning, and tourism policy and planning. The faculty is home to the Canada Research Chair in Global Change and Tourism and to Ecoplan China, one of UW’s largest international development projects. Research foci include midsize cities, remote sensing, wetlands, parks, ecological restoration, the cryosphere (ice and snow), green energy, and climate change. Recent awards include a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the highest recognition in Canada for scholars, artists and scientists.

Faculty of Mathematics

The Faculty of Mathematics is the world's largest centre for the mathematical and computer sciences, with teaching and research strength in actuarial science, applied mathematics, bioinformatics, combinatorics and optimization, computational mathematics, computer science, financial risk management, operations research, pure mathematics, software engineering, and statistics. The faculty has a 40-year history of outreach to schools across Canada and beyond, and continues to attract exceptional students who routinely place among the leaders in international mathematics and computing competitions. Members of our research institutes and centres collaborate with partners in academia and industry around the world. Pure and applied research in the UW Faculty of Mathematics has led to breakthroughs in areas ranging from financial services to scheduling and logistics, from health science to high-tech industry.

Faculty of Science

With leading-edge discoveries, state-of-the-art facilities and researchers who typically attract more than $40 million in research funding annually, the Faculty of Science offers opportunities for innovation and experimentation. Our world-class programs include science and business, biotechnology/chartered accountancy, physical sciences, and life sciences. The faculty also houses the Institute for Quantum Computing, dedicated to advancing fundamental experimental and theoretical knowledge. Also based in science are the School of Optometry (Canada’s only English-language optometry school) and the School of Pharmacy — the anchor institution for UW’s new downtown Kitchener health sciences campus and the satellite campus of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. Distinguished in areas such as aquatic ecology, solid state chemistry, environmental biology, groundwater contamination clean-up, laser science, quantum computing, and astrophysics, researchers in science work closely with industry leaders to address challenging problems and conduct ground-breaking research.

Conrad Grebel University College

Conrad Grebel University College is home to UW’s music, peace and conflict studies, and Mennonite studies programs and offers undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Arts, including religious studies. Beginning in 2007, Grebel’s Master of Theological Studies program is offered jointly with UW. We provide a home and community for 174 undergraduate students in our residence and apartments. Facilities include a library and archives, “smart” classrooms, a spacious atrium and updated student lounge and study spaces. The college hosts a variety of lectures, seminars and concerts where cutting-edge research and musicianship is featured and celebrated.

Renison University College

Renison University College offers a range of programs in the arts, East Asian studies, and social sciences along with a unique post-BA Bachelor of Social Work. A variety of ESL courses are available through the English Language Institute. Linked with several Chinese and Japanese universities, Renison is the designated site for a Confucius Institute. Residence space includes 220 beds, and a new academic wing houses a multimedia language lab, East Asian Studies Resource Centre, and a 4,300-square-foot library.

St. Jerome's University

A Roman Catholic university federated with the University of Waterloo, St. Jerome's University offers undergraduate programs in arts, mathematics, legal studies, Italian studies, and medieval studies, and a unique BA program in sexuality, marriage and family studies. Major research includes studies of love and hate, urban culture, and a project on religion and ethnicity. Faculty members also hold research chairs in quantum computing and cryptography. St. Jerome's provides residence space for 280 students and is home to the St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience.

St. Paul's College

St. Paul's College offers an undergraduate degree program in international development in partnership with the Faculty of Environment, available to first-year students entering UW in fall 2008. The college also teaches courses in humanities and social sciences and presents annual lectureships, including the Kerr-Saltsman Lecture on International Affairs. St. Paul’s is home to UW’s Environment Living-Learning Community and provides 194 dormitory residence spaces, apartments for more than 100 graduate students, and eight hotel-style rooms for visiting scholars and campus guests. The university’s Aboriginal Services Office is based at St. Paul’s.