McMaster University

University Hall is one of the oldest facilities still used by the university.

The university's campus has gone through continuous development since 1928. The main campus's six original buildings are of Collegiate Gothic architecture, designed by William Lyon Somerville, who also laid out the initial campus plan. They are now flanked by over fifty structures built predominantly from the 1940s to 1960s.[13] The largest facility is the McMaster University Medical Centre, a multi-use research hospital that is home to the second-largest neonatal intensive care unit and the third-largest child and youth mental health unit in the country.[36] It is connected to the Life Sciences building and the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery, which houses many well-funded research groups in areas of genetics, infectious diseases, and several specific conditions.[37]

The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) has been the largest university reactor in the Commonwealth since it began operation and is the second largest research reactor in North America.[38][39] It is a "pool-type" reactor with a core of enriched uranium fuel moderated and cooled by distilled water.[40] While the MNR's primary purpose is research and the production of medical isotopes, the MNR serves students in nuclear engineering, medical and health physics, and other applied radiation sciences.[41] The university provides a wide range of irradiation, laboratory, and holding facilities, which include a cyclotron, an accelerator, a small-angle neutron-scattering detector, and wide-angle neutron scattering facilities.[42] The cyclotron is used for the production of fluorine-18, and is used for research purposes, particularly the development of novel molecular imaging agents.[43]

The McMaster Museum of Art holds the highest attendance figures for a university-affiliated museum in Canada.

The university's library system is a member of 31 organizations, including the Association of Research Libraries.[44] Around 2.8 million articles were downloaded from the library system's electronic journal collection during the 2016 academic year.[13] The university library employs 138 professional, and support staff.[13] The library's resource expenditure for the 2016–2017 academic year was approximately $11.5 million, with 81 per cent of the budget allocated to serial and e-resource subscriptions, 9 per cent on hard copy acquisitions, and 10 per cent to membership and collections support.[13] The library system include four libraries housing 1,274,265 paper books and 3,689,973 total resources, including videos, maps, sound recordings, and microfilm.[13] Mills Library houses the humanities and social sciences collections, with a wide range of print and digital resources. Innis Library houses content which supports the academic and research interests of the DeGroote School of Business. Thode Library houses academic material of various disciplines of science and engineering, while the Health Science Library houses books pertaining to medical sciences. The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections at McMaster University consist of papers of Canadian publishers; British personalities and of Canadian literary figures such as Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton, Matt Cohen, and Marian Engel. It includes the archives of Bertrand Russell, and of labour unions.[45]

The McMaster Museum of Art's (MMA) principal role is to support the academic mission of McMaster University and to contribute to the discourse on art in Canada. The museum has the highest attendance figures for a university-affiliated museum in Canada, with 30,000 visitors in 2016.[13] Established in 1967, the museum houses and exhibits the university's art collection.[46] As of 2015, that collection of 5,971 pieces holds a value of $98.7 million.[13] The collection includes works by Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Walter Sickert and Vincent van Gogh. The museum also boasts the most comprehensive collection of German expressionist and Weimar period prints in Canada.[13]

As of August 2022, McMaster has thirteen smoke-free student residences: Bates Residence, Brandon Hall, Edwards Hall, Hedden Hall, Les Prince Hall, Mary E. Keyes Residence, Matthews Hall, McKay Hall, Moulton Hall, Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, Wallingford Hall, Whidden Hall, and Woodstock Hall. McMaster's student residences can accommodate 4,186 students.[47] The latest residence to be built was Peter George Centre for Living and Learning (PGCLL), which was completed in Fall 2019.[48] PGCLL can house 500 students and also contains lecture halls, tutorial rooms, and eateries. Les Prince Hall, the second-latest residence to be completed and a large co-ed building, opened in 2006. It was named for a long-time hall master in the residence system who lived with his family on campus until after his retirement in 1980.[49] In September 2010, 50.19 per cent of first-year students lived on campus, with 15.54 per cent of the overall undergraduate population living on campus.[50]

Edwards Hall is one of twelve student residences on the main campus

Residences provide traditional room and board style, furnished apartment style, and suite-style accommodation. Brandon Hall houses the university's substance-free lifestyle living spaces.[51] The residence system is supervised by Residence Life staff, who provide guidance and help the transition to university life for many first-year students.[52] Residence students are represented by the Inter-Residence Council (IRC), which aims to build a sense of community among the residents through programming. Additionally, the IRC seeks to advocate for residence students on issues they may face, such as facilities, dining, environment, and more, and provide opportunities for residence students to gain valuable leadership opportunities. They are an integral part of the McMaster residence community.[53]

The McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) is the centre of student life and programming. It has a café, study space, common areas, and several administrative departments, including the CIBC Conference Hall. The MUSC contains the offices of a number of student organizations, including the McMaster Students Union and The Silhouette weekly newspaper as well as other services such as the Campus Health Centre and the campus dentist.[54] The university has over twenty dining outlets throughout the campus, including two major residence dining facilities.[55] The university has several vegetarian establishments, such as a completely vegetarian cafe known as Bridges Café and a farmers market stand. The university was voted as the country's most vegan-friendly university through People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for a number of years.[56] Several other dining outlets at McMaster have garnered awards throughout the years for food services.[57]

The former Bank of Montreal Pavilion in downtown Hamilton is home to the Centre for Continuing Education.

As of 2010 McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business operates a 1.82-hectare (4.5-acre) site in the neighbouring city of Burlington. Consideration for the new building began in 2004, when McMaster University had announced its initial intent to construct a new arts- and technology-intensive campus in partnership with the city of Burlington. In 2009, the City of Burlington, Halton Region, and McMaster University signed an official agreement laying out the timelines and next steps for the university's expansion into Burlington.[58] Construction began on 17 June 2009,[59] and the official opening was on 7 October 2010. The four-story, 8,400-square-metre (90,000 sq ft) building is called the Ron Joyce Centre. The Ron Joyce Centre is home to DeGroote's MBA program and its business management program (both degree and non-degree programs).[60][61]

McMaster has several administrative offices at its Downtown Centre.[62] The McMaster Centre for Continuing Education, which offers certificate and diploma programs as well as personal and professional development programs, is within the former Bank of Montreal Pavilion at Lloyd D. Jackson Square.[63][64] McMaster had also announced construction of the McMaster Downtown Health Campus in downtown Hamilton had begun in December 2012. The Health Campus is expected to provide teaching spaces, exam rooms and clinical spaces for local residents.[65]

The David Braley Health Sciences Centre at the McMaster Health Campus in downtown Hamilton

The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine is on the main campus as well as in two regional campuses at St. Catharines and Kitchener. The Waterloo Regional Campus is in downtown Kitchener, where it shares facilities with the Health Sciences Campus of the University of Waterloo.[66] The campus in St. Catharines is at Brock University's Niagara Health and Bioscience Research Complex.[67] Approximately 30 medical students in each year of the program attend each campus.[68] Those who apply to McMaster's School of Medicine are asked to rank their site choice (Hamilton, Niagara Region, Waterloo Region) from first to third, or no preference. Offers of admission to the medical school are made from a rank list irrespective of geographical preference. Subsequent to an applicant's acceptance, registrants to the class are placed based on their preference and geographical background. The offers given out by McMaster are bound to the assigned site.[68]

McMaster purchased a large industrial park three kilometres east of its main Hamilton campus in 2005 with the intention of creating an array of research facilities for the development of advanced manufacturing and materials, biotechnology, automotive, and nanotechnology.[69] In July 2005 the federal government announced it would relocate CANMET, a federal government materials research laboratory, from its Ottawa centre to Hamilton. This decision helped spearhead the development of the McMaster Innovation Park.[70] The United Nations University-International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is headquartered within the park. UNU-INWEH is the only United Nations agency headquartered in Ontario and the only North American host site for a United Nations University, after moving to McMaster Innovation Park on 23 April 2008.[8][71]

The Office of Sustainability, created as the All-modes Commuting & Transportation Office in 2002, is charged with promoting sustainable operations and growth at the university.[72][73] The Office of Sustainability, headed by the Manager of University Sustainability, works with various members of the university population, external community groups, and the government.[74] Along with the other members of the Council of Ontario Universities, McMaster signed a pledge in 2009 known as Ontario Universities Committed to a Greener World, with the objective of transforming its campus into a model of environmental responsibility.[75][76] On 21 October 2010, the university signed two accords addressing the issue of climate change: the Talloires Declaration and the University and College Presidents' Climate Change Statement of Action for Canada.[77][78]

The university campus received a B grade from the Sustainable Endowments Institute on its College Sustainability Report Card for 2011.[79]

McMaster University is affiliated with one post-secondary institution, McMaster Divinity College. The seminary is within the campus of the university. As an affiliated institution, two members of the Divinity College sit on the university's senate, as well as appoint one representative to sit in the university's board of governors.[82][81] However, the Divinity College operates with its own senate and board of trustees.[29] Although Divinity College has the authority to confer their own degrees, students taking the college's Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies are awarded degrees by McMaster University.[29][86] Students of Divinity College have access to the catalogue of McMaster University Library, while students of the university similarly have access to the Canadian Baptist Archives, managed by the university's library system.[87]

The university and the divinity college were incorporated as the same institution in 1887, a result of a merger between two Baptist institutions, the Canadian Literary Institute in Woodstock, Ontario, and Toronto Baptist College.[29] McMaster University continued to operate as a Baptist-run institution until 1957, when provincial legislation allowed for the governance of the university to pass from the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, to a privately chartered, publicly funded arrangement. McMaster's Faculty of Theology was spun-off into McMaster Divinity College, a separately-chartered affiliated college of the university.[29]

From 1911 to 1938, Brandon College (reincorporated as Brandon University in 1967) was an affiliated institution of McMaster. Located in Brandon, Manitoba, the affiliated institution was funded by the Baptist Union of Western Canada. The college ended its affiliation with McMaster in 1938, after Brandon College became a non-denominational institution.[88]

The net assets owned by the university as of 30 April 2018 stands at C$1,209.1 million.[5] The university had completed the 2017–2018 year with revenues of C$1,109.5 million, expenses of $985.7 million, for an excess of revenues over expenses of $123.8 million.[5] McMaster's revenue comes from endowment income, gifts, fees, and annual grants from the City of Hamilton, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada.[32] In the 2017–2018 academic year, the largest source of revenue for the university was tuition fees, followed by operating grants provided by the government. As of 30 April 2017, McMaster's financial endowment was valued at C$727.4 million.[5] The financing of McMaster's scholarships and bursaries takes up 40 per cent of the endowments received.[89] Financial Services comprises the following areas: Student Accounts & Cashiers, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Budgeting Services.[90]

The university has been registered as an educational charitable organization in Canada since 1 January 1967. As of 2011, the university is registered primarily as a post-secondary institution, with 70 per cent of the charity dedicated to the management and maintenance of the university. The remaining 30 per cent has been dedicated under research.[91]

The McMaster Model is the university's policy for a student-centred, problem-based, interdisciplinary approach to learning.[8][103] During the 1960s the McMaster University Medical School pioneered problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials that have since been adopted by other fields in the Faculty of Health Science, as well as other faculties and programs in the university.[104][105] The PBL tutorial model has since been adopted into the curriculums of other medical schools in Canada, and more than 80 per cent of medical schools in the United States.[106][107]

In 1991, McMaster's School of Medicine adopted progress testing, developing the personal progress index (PPI), a system based on progress testing invented concurrently by the University of Missouri-Kansas City's medical school and the Maastricht University. The PPI is used as an objective method for assessing acquisition and retention of knowledge for students in the medical program.[108] The PPI is administered at regular intervals to all students in the program, regardless of their level of training, and plots students' scores as they move through the program. Students typically score 20 per cent on their first examination, and increase by five to seven per cent with each successive examination.[108] Students can monitor the changes in their scores and receive formative feedback based on a standardized score relative to the class mean.[108] Due to the overwhelming success and research supporting the use of the PPI as an evaluation tool, it is now used in Canada, US, Europe, and Australia.[109]

McMaster University has placed in post-secondary school rankings. In the 2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities rankings, the university ranked 90th in the world and fourth in Canada.[110] The 2024 QS World University Rankings ranked the university 189th in the world and sixth in Canada.[111] The 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed McMaster 103th in the world, and fourth in Canada.[113] In U.S. News & World Report 2022–23 global university rankings, the university placed 138th, and fifth in Canada.[115] In 2011, Newsweek had also ranked McMaster as the 15th top university outside of the United States, and the fourth best university in Canada.[117] In Maclean's 2023 rankings, McMaster placed fourth in their Medical-Doctoral university category, and fifth in their reputation survey for Canadian universities.[116][118] McMaster was ranked in spite of having opted out from participation in Maclean's graduate survey since 2006.[119]

McMaster also placed in a number of rankings that evaluated the employment prospects of graduates. In QS's 2022 graduate employability ranking, the university ranked 81st in the world, and fourth in Canada.[112] In the Times Higher Education's 2022 global employability ranking, McMaster placed 81st in the world, and fifth in Canada.[114] In an employability survey published by the New York Times in October 2011, when CEOs and chairmen were asked to select the top universities which they recruited from, McMaster placed 61st in the world, and fourth in Canada.[120]

Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery is a multipurpose building that houses several research facilities of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

A titan arum blooming inside the McMaster Biology Greenhouse, one of many facilities used for research at the university

In 2018, Research Infosource named McMaster as the most research intensive university in the country with an average sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of C$434,700 per faculty member in 2017, the highest average in the country, and nearly double the average for universities in the "Medical-Doctoral" category.[121] In the same year, graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $82,800, the highest out of any full-service university.[121] With a sponsored research income of $379.959 million in 2017, McMaster has the seventh largest sponsored research income amongst Canadian universities.[122] In the 2015–2016 academic year, the federal government was the largest source of McMaster's sponsored research income (excluding affiliated hospitals), providing 61.4 per cent of McMaster's research budget, primarily through grants. Corporate research income account for 7.3 per cent of the overall research budget.[13]

McMaster has been ranked on several bibliometric university rankings, which uses citation analysis to evaluate the impact a university has on academic publications. In 2019, the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities ranked McMaster 119th in the world, and sixth in Canada.[123] The University Ranking by Academic Performance 2018–19 rankings placed the university 126th in the world, and sixth in Canada.[124]

McMaster has received accolades for its research strengths, particularly in the field of health sciences. The Faculty of Health Science oversees $130 million a year in research, much of it conducted by scientists and physicians who teach in the medical school.[125] The university also operates a brain bank, whose collection includes a portion of Albert Einstein's brain, preserved and held for medical research.[126] Researchers there have identified differences in his brain that may relate to his genius for spatial and mathematical thinking.[127][128] In addition to traditional forms of research, members of Faculty of Health Sciences have also been credited with developments within the medical practice. A McMaster research group led by David Sackett and later Gordon Guyatt had been credited for establishing the methodologies used in evidence-based medicine.[129][130] Research institutes operated by the Faculty of Health Science include the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, and the Population Health Research Institute.[131] The faculty also operates a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory.[132]

Other research institutes operated by the university include the Origins Institute, the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute, and the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research (BIMR).[133] BIMR was created in 1960 by Howard Petch, the institute was named after McMaster alumnus Bertram Brockhouse. The BIMR is an interdisciplinary research organization with the mandate to develop, support, and co-ordinate all materials research related activities at McMaster.[134] Its membership of 123 faculty members is drawn from 13 departments in the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as several Canadian and international universities.[134] Facilities of the BIMR include the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, Centre for Crystal Growth, McMaster Analytical Xray Facility, Electronic and Magnetic Characterization Facility, and the Photonics Research Laboratories.[135] The Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy is home to the world's most powerful electron microscope; the Titan 80–300 cubed microscope has a magnification of 14 million and is used for material, medical, and nanotechnology research.[136]

The Biology Greenhouse holds 217 plants in a 780-square-metre (8,400 sq ft) facility, and is used as a teaching and research facility by the Department of Biology. In addition to maintaining its permanent collection, the Biology Greenhouse also grows plants for both short-term research studies.[137]

The McMaster Nuclear Reactor is the largest research reactor in the Commonwealth of Nations.

In addition, the university also operates the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, used for nuclear science and engineering research since 1959.[42] The university regularly acquires an operating license for the reactor from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, with the latest 10-year license issued on 1 July 2014.[138] The swimming pool reactor is used for research, educational, and commercial applications such as neutron radiography, and medical radioisotope production; including 60 per cent of the world's supply of iodine-125, an isotope used in nuclear medicine to treat prostate cancer.[139] The production of molybdenum-99 has occasionally been moved to the university's reactor, when production at the National Research Universal reactor was temporarily halted.[140]

The strength of nuclear science at McMaster was augmented in 1968 under the presidency of Dr. H.G. Thode by the construction of a 10MV Model FN Tandem particle accelerator. The 3MV Model KN single-ended accelerator was added the same year.[141] The academic direction of the laboratory fell to the Physics Department in the early days, as it was primarily a nuclear structure laboratory. During the next 28 years, the nuclear research effort was extensive, with hundreds of graduate students trained and many publications generated.[142]

The requirements for admission differ between students from Ontario, other provinces in Canada, and international students due to the lack of uniformity in marking schemes. The acceptance rate at McMaster for full-time, first-year applications in 2018 was 52.6 per cent.[143] In September 2014, the secondary school average for full-time first-year students at McMaster University was 87.7 per cent. The university received 28,079 applicants in 2016.[13]

However, students entering McMaster's more selective undergraduate programs, including the Health Sciences, Integrated Sciences, and Arts and Science programs, had a secondary school average of 96.3 per cent.[50] In 2016, Yahoo! Finance named the university's Health Sciences program the toughest Canadian undergraduate program to gain admission to, with an acceptance rate of 4.5 per cent out of an average of 3,500 applicants each year.[144]

The Michael DeGroote School of Medicine has notably developed admission tests adopted by other schools. In 2001, they developed the multiple-mini interview to address long-standing concerns over standard panel interviews; viewed as poor reflectors for medical school performance.[145] This format uses short, independent assessments in a timed circuit to obtain aggregate scores in interpersonal skills, professionalism, ethical/moral judgment, and critical thinking to assess candidates. The multiple-mini interview has consistently shown to have a higher predictive validity for future performance than traditional interviews.[145] The multiple-mini interview process has since been adopted by the majority of Canadian medical schools, as well as a number of medical schools in the United States.[146] In 2010, the medical school developed the Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, to better assess the applicant's personal characteristics.[147] Several other medical schools have adopted the CASPer test, including New York Medical College, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine.[148]

The student centre plaza, with the McMaster University Student Centre and Mills Memorial Library in the background, April 2017

The main student unions on administrative and policy issues are the McMaster Students Union for full-time undergraduates, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students for part-time undergraduates, and the McMaster Graduate Students Association for postgraduates.[150][151][152] In addition, each faculty has its own student representative body. There are more than 300 student organizations and clubs, covering a wide range of interests such as academics, culture, religion, social issues, and recreation.[153] Many of them are centred at McMaster's student activity centre. The Silhouette, the student-run newspaper, is the oldest student service at McMaster University, in publication since 1929.[12] Since 1968, the McMaster Engineering Society has published The Plumbline, the main satire magazine of McMaster University.[154] The campus radio station CFMU-FM (93.3 FM) is Canada's second-oldest campus radio station, and has been broadcasting since 1978.[155] MacInsiders, a once-popular online student-run forum and information network, had been operating from 2007 to 2019[156] and had over 18,000 registered members. The university is also home to the McMaster Improv Team, a drop-in club dedicated to practicing and performing improvisational comedy.[157] The McMaster Artificial Intelligence Society, or Mac AI, was founded in December 2017 and has grown to be one of the largest undergraduate AI organizations in Canada – around 2-3% of the McMaster student population is a general member of the club.[158]

Forum for McMaster Students Union presidential candidates in 2008.

The university hosts a number of honour societies, including the McMaster Honour Society and a chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society.[159][160] The university is home to two semi-professional acting companies, McMaster Musical Theatre and the McMaster Thespian Company.[161] The McMaster Engineering Musical is an annual musical production written, directed, and cast by engineers. The production often features unique interpretations of popular songs or musicals.[162] The university and the student unions do not recognize any fraternity or sororities; with existing fraternities and sororities chapters based at McMaster operating as non-accredited off-campus organizations.[163]

Athletics at McMaster is managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics and recreation department. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports (formerly called Canadian Interuniversity Sport). The university's team sports programs include baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming, volleyball, ringette, and water polo. The first major sport game played at McMaster was in 1889, when a group of alumni from Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College played an exhibition game against one another, sparking an early intercity rivalry between McMaster students. In 1897 the university placed all physical activity and sports under the jurisdiction of a central executive committee.[164] The varsity teams have been known as the McMaster Marauders since 1948, through a contest run by the student newspaper, The Silhouette, to name the university's men's basketball team.[165] In 2016–2017 academic year, McMaster had over 1,100 student-athletes in either varsity or club teams.[13]

The McMaster Marauders football team at Ron Joyce Stadium

The Marauders have won 11 national championships and 139 provincial champions since 1961. The men's water polo team has won the Ontario University Athletics championship 25 times, making it the Marauders' most successful team at the provincial level. The men's wrestling team has been the Marauders' most successful team at the national level, winning the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship four times.[166] McMaster University has graduated 34 Olympic athletes, eight Olympic coaches, two Olympic administrators and two Olympic officials.[167] As is mandatory for all members of U Sports, McMaster University does not provide full-ride athletic scholarships.[168]

The university's sports facilities are in the northeast corner of the main campus. The university has a number of sports facilities, including the David Braley Athletic Centre and the Ron Joyce Stadium.[169] Ron Joyce Stadium includes a full-sized Canadian football field and FIFA-sized soccer pitch. The stadium features permanent seating for 6,000 and temporary seating for an additional 6,000 on the other side of the field when needed. Ron Joyce Stadium is not only used by the university's football and soccer varsity teams it is also used as the training camp for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and as the home stadium for the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse.[170][171]

Intramural sport leagues and tournaments have a high level of participation at McMaster. Opportunities are offered at multiple skill levels and across a variety of sports to service a range of interest and ability. Sports offered include traditional sports like volleyball, basketball, soccer and cricket, as well as less traditional events like dodgeball, inner tube water polo, and extreme potato sack racing.[172]

The university's motto, chosen from Colossians 1:17, is ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩΙ ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΚΕΝ.[1] The motto, adopted in 1888, is Greek for "In Christ all things consist".[1] The McMaster motto is unusual in that it employs Greek instead of Latin or English. The use of Latin reflects the origin of universities in mediaeval institutions in which Latin was more prominent than Greek.[11][178] McMaster's founders desired to go back beyond the Middle Ages to the earliest days of the Christian faith, and therefore used the Greek form.[178]

Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement and convocation, and athletic games are "The Alma Mater Song" (1935), with words by Mrs. A.A. Burridge and music by Hugh Brearly; "Shout for McMaster! (The McMaster March)", with words by Claire Senior Burke et al., and music by Arthur Burridge; and "My Mac" (1982), with words and music by Fred Moyes.[179] Specifically, "Shout for McMaster!" is recognized as the university's fight song.[180][181]

Signage at the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery featuring the university's arms.

After the university moved to Hamilton in 1930, the university petitioned Lord Lyon King of Arms in Edinburgh for a coat of arms.[182] The request was granted on behalf of The Crown on 20 October 1930.[11][182] In 1997, the board of governors introduced a simplified shield design, which recognized the tradition of McMaster's heraldry while improving the quality of print and electronic reproduction.[182] The university's arms and badge was registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on 15 October 2006.[183]

The coat of arms consists of a shield, a crest, and a motto, together with a helmet. The shield contains an eagle, symbolic of the heavenly vision, with a cross on its breast to indicate Christianity as the inspiration for the university's vision.[184] The chief of the shield bears an open book, a common symbol of learning. A golden maple leaf is situated on each side of the book, signifying the university's charter was granted by the Province of Ontario.[184] The helmet, above the shield, has the open visor and forward-facing style typically used by universities.[184] The mantling surrounding the shield and helmet represents the cloak worn over a knight's armour as protection from the sun. The crest, above the helmet, is a stag and oak tree, which serves as a tribute to the Canadian senator, William McMaster, who also used a stag and oak on his insignias.[182] The motto is above the crest, as is common in Scottish heraldry.[185]

Coat of arms of McMaster University

Notes Granted 15 October 2006 Crest On a mount Vert before an oak tree a stag courant Proper. Escutcheon Argent an eagle displayed Gules beaked membered and charged on the breast with a Latin cross flory Or on a chief Azure an open book Proper bound Gules clasped Or between two maple leaves Or. Motto ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩΙ ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΚΕΝ (In Christ All Things Consist)[186]