Higher Education in Canada

Higher education, also known as post-secondary or tertiary education, usually refers

to education and training in universities, colleges and institutes of technology and art. It also
refers to an academic field of studies which has been advanced in Canada since 1969 with the
establishment of a graduate unit at the University of Toronto. Post-secondary education in
Canada dates from 1663, with the establishment of the Grand Séminaire de Québec, a
forerunner of Laval University. The first role of the Séminaire de Québec was to prepare
young men for ordination and ministry in parishes and missions. But it was not until 1789
that the first church-sponsored university and also the first university in Canada, University
of King’s College, was founded. At the time of Confederation in 1867, there were 18
universities and a number of classical colleges in Canada.

Responsibility for education in Canada rests with the ten provinces and three
territories. This means that each province and territory regulates the standards of education
and any issues which arise as well, and these are strict to ensure quality. Every province has a
Ministry or a Department of education which is responsible for educational policy, funding
and quality assurance. Moreover, Canada does not have a national curriculum. The provincial
governments are responsible for establishing the curriculum for their schools, and each
province has its own ministry-established common curriculum.

Post-secondary education in Canada is also the responsibility of the individual

provinces and territories. Those governments provide the majority of funding to their public
post-secondary institutions, with the remainder of funding coming from tuition fees, the
federal government, and research grants. Postsecondary education is available in both
government-supported and private institutions. There are a wide variety of higher education
institutions which one can choose from in Canada, each located across a wide range of
environments as well as having strong reputations in distinct subject areas. More precisely,
there are three types of post-secondary schools in Canada: universities, colleges and
institutes. Governments have processes to make sure these schools and the programs they
offer meet their standards. Institutions that do not go through government quality control are
not officially recognized. Schools that are recognized can grant degrees, diplomas and
certificates.
 There are approximately 163 public and private universities and approximately 183
public colleges and institutes in Canada. While private denominational universities were the
dominant institutional model for higher education in Canada in the early years of the
twentieth century, the post-war expansion of the university sector lead to the secularization of
the university sector. By the 1970s Canadian universities were generally characterized as
public, secular institutions. Nowadays, most of the private universities are quite small and are
associated with a religious denomination, such as the Canadian Mennonite University in
Manitoba or offer programs within an institutional environment that supports the beliefs and
values of a religious faith such as Trinity Western University in British Columbia.

Regarding universities, they offer four-year undergraduate programs leading to

bachelor's degrees. Advanced degrees include master's degrees, generally requiring two years
of study after a first degree, and doctoral degrees, which is the most advanced degree offered
by Canadian universities, require three to five years of postgraduate study and research as
well as a dissertation. A bachelor’s degree represents the completion of four years of full-
time post-secondary education. Subject areas most often include traditional academic subjects
in Business, General Sciences, Engineering, the Arts, or Humanities. In this arrangement,
students are expected to gain general and foundational knowledge over their first one or two
years, and then specialize in a concentration called a major. Some faculties offer a fifth
professional year comprising a supervised practicum, for example, for teachers’
certifications. In Canada, the degree structure is more flexible. Each course is given a certain
number of credits, so, in order to complete their degree students must have studied and
validated a given number of credits. Thus, each semester, students choose from a wide
selection given by their department of studies. Thereby, they also get to choose their own
workload: from two to six courses a semester in general. The more courses they study each
semester, the more credits they validate and the quicker they graduate. Concerning admission
requirements, with the exception of Quebec which requires completion of the Diplôme
d’Etudes Collégiales for university admission, admission to higher education undergraduate
programs across Canada generally requires a secondary school diploma. According to Times
Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2018, Canada is home to some of the top
universities in the world. University of British Colombia is ranked among top 20 public
universities worldwide and top 2 in Canada and University of Toronto which is ranked top 22
worldwide and top 1 in Canada.
 Some public colleges date back to the 1920s, most of them were established in the
1960s. These institutions were created by provincial governments in response to a need for
vocational and technical training, to complement the education offered at universities. In
1990 there were significant changes in Canada's postsecondary education systems. Some
public colleges and institutes were given degree-granting authority by their provincial
governments, and mechanisms were established to expand college–university credit transfer.
A small number of private postsecondary institutions also obtained permission to offer degree
programs.

Colleges and institutes are divided into community colleges, colleges of applied arts
or applied technology, institutes of technology or science, colleges d’enseignement général et
professionnel, which are only in Quebec, and career colleges. Career colleges are privately
owned educational institutions which provide students with practical skills molded for the job
market. Study periods are usually relatively short, and the courses emphasize practical skills.
Canadian career colleges specialize in areas such as business, IT and secretarial skills.
Altogether, colleges and institutes offer one to three year programs and they issue diplomas
and certificates that qualify graduates to work in specific jobs within many fields, such as:
business, computer and mechanical technologies, health, social service, agricultures, trades
etc. There are some differences between how things are structured in Quebec compared to
the rest of Canada. In Quebec, college refers to either a 2-year pre-university program or a 3-
year professional program, after which a student can pursue undergraduate study at university
which is usually 3 years long and leads to a bachelor’s degree. Elsewhere in Canada, college
refers to community college or a technical school where students can earn a certificate,
diploma or associate’s degree. Some colleges, in collaboration with business, have developed
custom training services and specialized programs in leading-edge or high-tech areas. The
main difference between college education and university education is that if the first one
prepares a student for an applied career, the second one prepares the student for an academic
career. On the other hand, universities focus more on independent learning and critical
thinking, whereas colleges are more practical.

Moreover, Canada is considered one of the most educated countries in the world.
According to BBC NEWS 1 , at university level, Canada has the highest proportion of
working-age adults who have been throught higher education, 55% compared with an

1
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40708421
average in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries of 35%. But
there are also flaws in the Canadian Education System. According to News Activist2 there are
three major flaws that have been increasing noticed among the federal government: the
accessibility, the quality of education, and financing education in general.

All in all, Canadian system of Higher Education is arguably considered one of the best
in the world, and a University diploma, both Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree obtained
in any university of Canada is recognized in almost all countries.

Sources:

 file:///C:/Users/Alex/Downloads/PSE2008_English%20(1).pdf
 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-582-g/2010001/app-ann/app-ann1-
eng.htm
 https://www.educations.com/study-guides/north-america/study-in-
canada/colleges-6173
 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-
rankings/2018/world-
ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats
 http://newsactivist.com/en/news-summary/flacks-newsactivist-winter-2015-
complementary-course/flaws-canadian-education
 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40708421

2
http://newsactivist.com/en/news-summary/flacks-newsactivist-winter-2015-complementary-course/flaws-
canadian-education