Established in 1959, York University, located in the northwestern part of Toronto Region, is Canada's third largest post-secondary institution and houses the most wide-ranging Faculty of Arts and the second biggest graduate school in the nation. It has approximately 7,000 faculty members spread out over two campuses in Keele and Glendon, both located in Toronto. Around 49,000 students pursue full or part-time degree studies on the York campus or at Glendon College, Ontario's bilingual liberal arts institution located in downtown Toronto. The library holds more than 6.5 million items including over 2.5 million books and about 13,000 subscriptions to the electronic journals database. Additionally, the University has two student-run publications, three broadcast programs, two art galleries, and twenty-one research centres.

York University offers over 260 degree opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including interdisciplinary options from the Faculties of Arts, Education, Glendon, Environmental Studies, Fine Arts, and Science and Engineering along with the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, Osgoode Law School, and Schulich School of Business. York also offers its students the chance to study abroad through the University's "York International," with partnerships with universities and businesses in 28 countries.