Established in 1843, the Faculty of Arts is one of the oldest in Canada and remains the largest at McGill. The Faculty is home to 15 departments, 4 schools, 4 institutes, and 12 research centres. It has more than 350 full-time academic staff teach approximately 8,000 undergraduates and over 1,100 graduate students.

The Bachelor of Arts degree integrates the Humanities, Social Sciences, Languages and Literatures, and a wide range of Interdisciplinary Studies into a coherent academic program. Students have considerable program flexibility. They may concentrate on one or more Arts disciplines while obtaining minor concentrations in other disciplines or faculties.

The Faculty also offers programs leading to a Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.), a Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.), and a Diploma in Environment from the Bieler School of Environment.