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Canadian Education
Studying In Canada
Why Study in Canada?
Canada is a country of immigrants and has both
a tradition and a policy of encouraging multicultural diversity. Almost all of
the world's ethnic groups are represented in Canada. As an international
student, you will feel welcomed by Canadians.
You will be able to find a variety of ethnic
foods and recreational activities. You will be able to find a formal or informal
club or association that includes your group in most Canadian cities. The
international student advisor or someone else at your institution can help you
get in touch with such a group.
Quality Education.
Canadians place a premium on education and
demand first rate schools. Canada spends more per capita on our education system
than any other country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD): 7.1% of gross domestic product compared to an average of
6.1% in other OECD countries. A degree from a Canadian university is universally
recognized. International students who graduate from Canadian universities have
successful and prosperous careers.
Our Services
We provide a one shop stop for
studies in Canada. Once you have specified your interests, we revert to you with
a list of potential universities that offer those courses. Working with you, we
apply to a short list of three universities. we do the follow ups with the
admissions offices. Our consultants ensure that all documentation requirements
are met and the admission granted. After the University admission is received,
we process your student visas with the nearest Canadian mission. Our
relationship continues to the day you arrive in Canada where we arrange for your
pick-up and drop-off to the University accommodation. In the following days our
staff assist you in opening you bank account and showing you our wonderful city
of Toronto!!!!!
Canada has two streams for higher education - Community Colleges and
Universities. Both of the streams have their certain terms and conditions for
the admission of foreign students in Canada. Out of the top ten Universities
around the world, two are located in Canada.
In coming together to build their country, Canadians from many cultural
backgrounds discovered that tolerance and flexibility were necessary in order to
unite so many different historical, geographical and ethnic elements. The
education systems that evolved were designed to accommodate this diversity.
Public education in Canada is co-educational and free up to and including
secondary school. The law requires children to attend school from the age of 6
or 7 until they are 15 or 16 years old. In Quebec, free education is extended to
include attendance at the general and vocational colleges (CEGEPs), which charge
only a minimal registration fee. The student pays tuition for most other
post-secondary education.
Canada gives especially high priority to post-secondary education, which is
proving increasingly important for knowledge-based economies. Compared to other industrialized counties, Canada
is among the leaders in expenditures for enrollment in post-secondary institutions. Canada also ranks
near the top of all industrialized nations in the share of the gross domestic product devoted to
public-sector funding of education. About 8% of Canada's GDP is spent on
education. Canada is second only to the United States in the proportion of the
population aged 18-24 enrolled full-time in Canada's universities, colleges and
technical institutes. More than a quarter of the Canadian working population has
a university or college degree and approximately one half are high school
graduates.
A Provincial Responsibility
There is no federal educational system in Canada: the Constitution vested the
exclusive responsibility for education to the provinces. Each provincial system, while similar to the others,
reflects its specific regional concerns and historical and cultural heritage.
The provincial departments of education -- headed by an elected minister -- set
standards, draw up curriculums and give grants to educational institutions.
Responsibility for the administration of elementary and secondary (or high)
schools is delegated to local elected school boards or commissions. The boards
set local budgets, hire and negotiate with teachers, and shape school
curriculums within provincial guidelines.
The federal government has an indirect involvement in education. It provides
financial support for post- secondary education, adult occupational training and
the teaching of the two official languages -- especially second-language
training. In addition, it is responsible for the education of Aboriginals, armed
forces personnel and their dependants, and inmates of federal penal
institutions.
The federal government, through its Canada Student Loans Program, assists
students who do not have sufficient resources to pursue their studies. It provides loans guarantees and,
in the case of full-time students, interest subsidies to help meet the cost of
studies at the post-secondary level. Provinces have complementary programs of
loans and bursaries. In 1991-92, provincial and federal government expenditures
for student aid amounted to just over $794 million.
Elementary and
Secondary Schools
About five million children in Canada received a free education during
the 1990-91 school year. In some provinces, children can enter kindergarten at the age of four before starting
the elementary grades at age six. General and fundamental, the elementary
curriculum emphasizes the basic subjects of language, math, social studies,
introductory arts and science.
In some provinces, enriched or accelerated programs are available for
academically gifted children. Slow learners and disabled students can be placed
in special programs, classes or institutions. Increasingly, however, some
disabled students are being integrated into the regular system.
In general, high school programs consist of two streams. The first prepares
students for university, the second for post-secondary education at a community college or institute of
technology, or for the workplace. There are also special programs for students
unable to complete the regular programs.
In most provinces, individual schools now set, conduct and mark their own
examinations. In some provinces, however, students need to succeed a graduation
examination in certain key subjects in order to access to the post-secondary
level. University entrance thus depends on course selection and marks in high
school; requirements vary from province to province.
Other Schools
For parents seeking alternatives to the public system, there are separate as
well as private schools. Provincial legislation permits the establishment of
separate schools by religious groups. Mostly Roman Catholic, separate schools
offer a complete parochial curriculum from kindergarten through the secondary
level in some provinces.
Private or independent schools offer a great variety of curriculum options based
on religion, language, or social or academic status.
Teacher Training
Canada's elementary and secondary education systems employed close to 297 000
full-time teachers in 1991- 92. Their professional training includes at least
four or five years of study combining a university degree with at least one-year
to complete the Bachelor of Education degree. The provincial departments of
education license teachers.
Post-Secondary Education
Until the mid-1960s, the universities provided post- secondary education in
Canada almost exclusively.
These were mainly private institutions, many with a religious affiliation.
During the 1960s, however, as the demand for greater variety in post-secondary education rose sharply and
enrollment mushroomed, systems of publicly operated post-secondary non-university institutions began to
develop.
Today, university and other post-secondary education is subsidized by the
provincial and federal governments. University student fees only account for an
average 17.8 percent of operating revenues of $6.6 billion.
Virtually all these institutions, including the universities, offer both full
and part-time adult education. At the post-secondary level, about 1.4 million
students are enrolled full-or part-time. Forty percent of these are full time
students at university. Every year, about 180,000 university degrees and 600,000
college diplomas are granted. Of these, about 2,700 are master's and
doctoral degrees. Over the past 20 years, with the emphasis on lifelong
learning, there has been a marked increase in the number of students from
outside the usual 18-to-24-year-old age group; in 1994, 9.6 percent of
university students were over the age of 25.
Currently, more than 55 percent of all university students are women, and more
women receive university qualifications than men. Similarly, over 53 percent of
full- time college students, and nearly 63 percent of part-time students at this
level, are women.
It is worth noting that adult education at all levels, from university to
trades, is a fast-growing sector. In 1990, for example, 3.4 million adults -- 20
percent of Canadians -- were taking part-time courses.
Highly Rated Systems
Canadian provinces and territories have developed comprehensive, diversified
systems of education, designed to be universally accessible and to respond to the bilingual and
multicultural character of Canadian society.
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