Education System

The education system in Canada encompasses both publicly-funded and private schools, including: community colleges / technical institutes, career colleges, language schools, secondary schools, summer camps, universities and university colleges. Canadian universities are largely public funded and as a result, are of a consistently high quality, regardless of location or area of study. At the same time, they (the universities) retain a high degree of academic autonomy.

Education is a provincial responsibility under the Canadian constitution, which means there are significant differences between the education systems of the different provinces. However, education is important to Canadians, and standards across the country are uniformly high. Once students complete elementary school which is up to 8thstandard, they would take up High school education comprising of classes 9thto 12th. There are more than 175 post-secondary institutions that offer various programs such as Certificate, Diploma and Bachelor’s, including vocational and adult education.

These institutions are known as Community colleges, Technical Institute, University College and CEGEP. All these colleges are members of the Association of Canadian Community colleges. Undergraduate programs are of 4 years duration, except in Ontario, where there are three-year Bachelor degrees and three-year Master’s degrees. In the other parts of Canada, post-graduate programs (Master’s) are of two years duration. A degree from a Canadian university is recognized worldwide and as a result, international students who graduate from Canadian universities enjoy successful and prosperous careers.