Inorganic scintillators with high density and high light yield are of major interest for applications in medical imaging and high energy physics detectors. In this work, the optical and scintillation properties of Mg co-doped Ce:Gd3Al2Ga3O12 crystals, grown using Czochralski technique, have been investigated and compared with Ce:Gd3Al2Ga3O12 ones prepared with identical technology. Improvements in the timing performance of the Mg co-doped samples with respect to Ce:Gd3Al2Ga3O12 ones have been measured, namely a substantial shortening of the rise time and scintillation decay components and lower afterglow were achieved. In particular, a significantly better coincidence time resolution of 233 ps FWHM, being a fundamental parameter for TOF-PET devices, has been observed in Mg co-doped crystals. The samples have also shown a good radiation tolerance under high doses of γ-rays, making them suitable candidates for applications in harsh radiation environments, such as detectors at future collider experiments